The 49ers QB Quandry

We love alliteration over here. Roll with it.

So, as you may have noticed, I’m pretty tied up in the San Francisco 49ers. And overall in the NFL, there’s been a lot of movement this off-season. It’s something I wrote about before the regular season ended, trying to make some predictions of where folks would end up. Here’s my AFC predictions, and here’s the NFC. Quite frankly, I didn’t do a great job there. I did predict that Aaron Rodgers would stay in Green Bay, and that Russell Wilson would get traded (I guessed New Orleans, he went to Denver). I also stated the obvious, in that Deshaun Watson would get traded, but I assumed it would be Miami (note: this was before they shockingly fired HC Brian Flores, who was the guy who wanted Watson the most), not Cleveland. I definitely didn’t see guys like Carson Wentz, Matt Ryan and, presumably, Baker Mayfield switching teams. Remember that most coaches and GMs are looking at one thing only - how to keep their job one more season. Pittsburgh is a bit of an anomaly, and deserves to be - so signing Mitch Trubisky and (most likely) drafting someone this year is a luxury most other teams can’t afford. Trubisky, Wentz, Ryan, Watson, Wilson, Marcus Mariota (Atlanta) and Jameis Winston (New Orleans) are all QBs that teams chose instead of Jimmy Garoppolo.

Which ended up leaving - for the time being - Jimmy at the altar. At the time of me writing this, he’s still on the roster - and likely will be for some time. He’s still rehabbing from shoulder surgery, which (perhaps unshockingly) was a turn-off for teams who would like their QB1 to participate in as much practice as possible. Currently, the only teams with a truly unsettled QB situation are Seattle (who the 49ers are QUITE unlikely to trade with), Houston (who have Davis Mills and likely will draft someone this year), Carolina (who have Sam Darnold and are probably desperate to upgrade) and … that’s sort of it. Could I argue that the New York Giants and Detroit Lions have a need at QB? I could. But really, there’s no active market for Jimmy G.

And, quite frankly, I now wonder how much there ever was. I never bought into the idea that he could garner a first round pick, or even a 2nd (or two 2nd) round picks folks have stated the team was offered. There’s literally zero evidence that they were offered that - rumors have said that they were, but if you know one thing about GM John Lynch it’s that he does not leak to the press. And the “sources” who are stating these ‘facts’ are not reporters with close ties to the franchise. I don’t buy it. Many fans are apoplectic that the Niners blew it, that Lynch should be fired for not trading Jimmy when he could and assuming that he held out for a better haul. Certainly, this is possible. For me, it doesn’t pass the sniff test, but I also can’t imagine that anyone who isn’t involved with the situation knows what offers the team ever received (if any) and how the 49ers handled it. I think it’s just as likely that teams told the 49ers they were interested, but never made a formal offer. And then, as they’re able to do, went a different way.

Matt Maiocco @MaioccoNBCS

Why haven’t the #49ers traded Jimmy Garoppolo? Who wants to make an investment (draft capital + $$) in a quarterback who won’t be able to throw a football for at least three more months? There’s no part of me that believes any team has made an offer to SF.

Tim Kawakami @timkawakami

Only because I'm sidelined a bit -- a leg injury to start vacation is NOT a recommended way to spend down time -- I'll just say you can't trade for what's not offered. And at this point, I don't know that the 49ers have actually been offered anything for Garoppolo.

Jimmyrandone @jimmyrandone

@timkawakami now seems like an appropriate time to call our John and Kyle for playing the worst hand of poker in history

(If you don’t know, Maiocco and Kawakami are two of maybe five or six true 49er beat writers. They are as locked into the team as anyone.)

Here’s another question - if Matt Ryan only costs a single third round pick, what could the team even hope to get for a recuperating Jimmy G?

But let’s look at it another way - Jimmy has taken the team to a Super Bowl and to another NFCC. That’s great! But he’s been hurt every other year.

And mostly because of this injury history, the team traded three first round draft picks to UPGRADE at his position. It’s tough to say with one massive, franchise changing action that you’re not satisfied at QB and then have a flood of offers for the guy you’ve already told folks you aren’t in love with.

So … they now have a quandry.

• Do they keep him on the roster, taking up salary cap space, waiting for a team to suffer an injury at QB? Or decide their guy just isn’t right? Perhaps something happens on draft day.

• What is Jimmy thinking about all of this? He must see himself as a starting NFL QB, but he can see that those jobs are closing up…would he renegotiate his salary to stay on the 49ers to give them more leverage?

• Does the team ask for that contract change and (gasp) actually consider allowing him to compete for the starting job in 2022? (I hate this option. HATE HATE HATE this option.)

• Or, does the team simply look around and just release him, allowing him to sign wherever he wants (which includes division rival Seattle)?

The latter option has been something that some 49ers beat writers have suggested all along, and I’ll admit it seemed crazy to me. Certainly, in a league where there are simply not 32 good starting QB, Jimmy has to have SOME value to some teams, right? And he does - but with his injury, he’s maybe not worth the draft capital we all thought he’d be.

I still hold out hope that the team can get something for him, but regardless it’s time for the franchise to turn the page and enter the Trey Lance era. The only true error the team can make is trying to force a market where one doesn’t exist.