The San Francisco 49ers have made it clear they want to trade Jimmy Garoppolo, but as of now, no opportunity to do so has shown itself.
With several quarterbacks (Deshaun Watson, Matt Ryan, Marcus Mariota and Carson Wentz, to name a few) already on the move, the number of places to send Garoppolo is dwindling. Despite this, 49ers general manager John Lynch shot down the possibility of releasing the 30-year-old signal caller if a trade doesn’t materialize.
“I don’t foresee that,” Lynch said at the annual owners meetings, via ESPN. “He’s too good a player. I think Jimmy will be playing for us or will be playing for someone else. He’s too good of a player not to be.”
After helping San Francisco reach the NFC Championship Game, Garoppolo underwent offseason surgery to repair an ailing shoulder. He is slated to count $26.95 million against the salary cap in 2022, and the team would save $25.55 million if they can find a trade partner.
If they can’t, don’t be surprised if Garoppolo isn’t back with the 49ers, despite the team’s desire to start 2021 first-round pick Trey Lance next season.
“My understanding is, there is certainly a scenario, and perhaps one that grows by the day, in which Jimmy Garoppolo could potentially be in a situation where he competes with the 49ers,” NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero said. “On his current contract, maybe on an adjusted contract, he comes back and competes with Trey Lance.”
Believe it or not, San Francisco could afford to keep Garoppolo on his current contract, though they would clearly prefer not to do so.
“We value strength at that position,” Lynch said. “To be completely forthright, though, when you make a trade of that magnitude (for Lance), most of our options did not include Jimmy on our books. On our team. But you always have to adapt and a series of events happened that it didn’t work out. But that’s not a bad thing, though. We feel positive with it. And we’ll make it work.”
The post The 49ers Have Ruled Out 1 Jimmy Garoppolo Possibility appeared first on The Spun.