The 49ers, at least outwardly, look poised to keep quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for the 2022 season if they’re unable to find a trade partner. General manager John Lynch on Monday at the NFL owners meetings in Florida told reporters outright releasing Garoppolo and his sizable salary cap hit aren’t among the club’s options.
“I don’t foresee that,” Lynch said via NBC Sports Bay Area. “He’s too good a player. So, I don’t foresee that. I think Jimmy will be playing for us or he’ll be playing for someone else. He’s too good a player not to be.”
This is the right line of thinking to have for a GM aiming to maximize the value of an asset. If teams know the 49ers are content releasing Garoppolo they’ll be less willing to come to the table in trade talks.
The problem now is the starting jobs around the league are drying up and the 49ers may be forced come training camp to either release Garoppolo or roll forward with a full-blown QB battle in camp. While San Francisco would surely like to avoid another year with question marks hovering around the most important position, Lynch said he doesn’t anticipate it being a problem if Garoppolo sticks around.
“I don’t think it ever was awkward last year,” Lynch said. “I don’t want to speak for those guys. I think Jimmy at the end when he was saying his farewell, he may have indicated that. But it never felt awkward. I think I give both those guys credit for that. I give the lines of communication between (head coach) Kyle (Shanahan), and Rich Scangarello who was the quarterback coach, all that credit for – I don’t think it ever felt awkward. Like I said, I think when you have strength at that position it’s a good thing for your team.”
Lynch’s point is a good one that having more good QBs in the building is better than having fewer good QBs, but in the instance where Garoppolo is the backup signal caller it means San Francisco is paying him $26.95 million to be the QB2.
The issue there is one of the advantages of drafting a quarterback is getting him on a rookie contract. The 49ers burned Year 1 of Lance’s rookie deal by not playing him. Keeping Garoppolo’s massive contract on the books for another year virtually eliminates another year of the rookie contract advantage under center.
San Francisco may not necessarily need the cap space, but there are a ton of obstacles that come with keeping Garoppolo in the building while trying to hand the reins over to Lance in his second season.
The 49ers seem content with holding onto their veteran signal caller for now, but as he gets healthier post-shoulder surgery and the season draws closer, it’ll be a surprise if their tune doesn’t change when it comes to keeping Garoppolo in a 49ers uniform.
