John Lynch said this week the 49ers’ Jimmy Garoppolo plan has changed. The team hoped to unload its longtime starter after the bigger quarterback dominoes fell, but Garoppolo’s shoulder surgery and a shrinking market has this situation at a standstill.
The 49ers do not plan to release Garoppolo, though the team ($1.8MM in cap space) is limited by carrying his $26.9MM cap number on the books. His salary does not become locked in until the vested-veteran guarantee date just before Week 1. That gives the 49ers time, but they are now no longer ruling out a second season with Garoppolo and Trey Lance on the roster.
“It’s professional sports. If Steve Young can sit on the bench for four seasons — Steve Young is a Hall of Famer,” 49ers CEO Jed York said, via NBC Sports’ Jennifer Lee Chan. “If he is willing to do it, and he has the competitive will to do it, why can’t somebody else?
“I think those two drove each other in the late ’80s and early ’90s to be the best that they could possibly be. If that’s the situation that we have and that’s what is created, sign me up for that problem any day.”
This refers to the 49ers’ four-year setup in which Young backed up Joe Montana, who held off the younger passer’s challenges for the job. The two flipped roles after injuries sidelined Montana in 1991, prior to a 1993 Montana trade to the Chiefs. The two Hall of Fame-bound QBs were on San Francisco’s roster together for six seasons. A Garoppolo-Lance competition obviously resides nowhere near the skill level the Montana-Young late-’80s battles did, but York mentioning the two passers vying for the job is interesting considering where San Francisco’s QB outlook stood after the NFC championship game.
Lance has received the impression the 2022 starting job will be his, and Garoppolo was openly discussing trade destinations in February. Should Garoppolo remain with the team into training camp, Lance’s grip on the job could loosen. The Division I-FCS prospect did not usurp an injury-plagued Garoppolo last season, but the latter’s right shoulder rehab will allow for the former No. 3 overall pick to receive extensive offseason reps. Garoppolo would be an expensive insurance policy, but with the 49ers coming off their second NFL championship appearance in three years, turning the keys over to an untested QB will bring risk. It does not look like this saga will conclude for a while.
Hate to say it but I’m loosing faith in ownership & the front office, the Lance trade keeps looking worse
How Rogers didn’t play for two years. They can easily play this out and go full lance when jimmy gone as a free agent
Lol ya right bout 25 million reasons why they can’t
Just trying to keep his value up with nonsense talk. No one is buying it.
I guess they could keep both, and they can wait and hope someone needs a QB like when Philly traded Bradford, but this sure looks like either they regret Lance or they regret not moving Jimmy earlier.
Washington will if their golden boy get hurt. Wouldn’t be surprised if panthers or the saints look for a Qb down the road. There so many options that could come up during the season . So holding out could help .
They absolutely can’t keep both. Lynch gave up far too much when trading up to draft Lance, he must start this season. Now, anyone else notice how longe Jimmy G took to have that surgery?? It was no mistake. He knows he’s the best QB on that roster, and didn’t want to get traded to some garbage organization. And his move has worked. No one wants him Bcs of how late he’ll be to get started in a new system. SF is kinda screwed..and they totally brought it on themselves.
At this point they’ll have to either keep him or cut him, as the trifecta of injury recovery time, his big salary number, and the fact that he is in the last year of his deal means no one will trade for him. What GM would trade for a guy that a) won’t be able to practice until a couple weeks before the season starts, b) will need a bunch of last minute contract re-negotiations to free up cap space, and c) may walk away via free agency once 2022 is finished – leaving you in the exact same situation in 2023?
If York thinks he’s got the same ‘problem’ as the late 80s, early 90’s Niners then his family needs to check him into a mental health clinic immediately. Montana is one of the top five players of all time and Young was a HOFer.
Jimmy is nowhere near Joe and Lance is nowhere near Young. Nor is there any indication that they ever will be. They have misplayed this situation from the start. Maybe they can make it work but they have got themselves in a poor situation as of right now. The only thing to do is name Jimmy the starter and wait for him to hurt himself and see what the kid can do when it happens.
The 49ers are so poorly run. Shanahan is the most overrated HC and Lynch has no idea what he’s doing. Can’t believe he traded all those picks for Lance who’s nowhere close to being starting caliber. The team would’ve been better off taking Mac #3
Sounds like someone who’s never heard of the New York football Giants or the club formerly known as the Washington Redskins.
As a life long Giants fan I feel your pain the last time we had a decent front office is when they drafted Eli. It’s been a crap shoot since then. I’ve got my hopes for the new one but I’m not holding my breath!
Yes, Niners Front Office, please do explain how you mucked up the ONE and ONLY thing that you needed to accomplish this offseason. It’s ok, we’ll wait …
Jimmy G gives them the best chance to win
This is a winless game of chicken with the salary cap in the hope of getting more in return on a trade.
The longer Jimmy is allowed to hang around the more the organization is going to undermine whatever confidence Lance may have. A classic example of how NOT to handle a QB transition. If the 49ers have any doubts about drafting Lance then they need to jettison both these guys then fire the GM.
Unfortunately, I agree with you. Aside from Jed showing he’s nothing like his uncle, it does explain why he allows such mismanagement. For the owner to even suggest publicly that it’d be OK for the team to keep both around this year and perhaps beyond points to the need to seriously consider keeping Jimmy and trading Lance now for what they could get for him in this year’s QB-light draft class.
No, Jimmy isn’t their long-term option at QB, but it appears from comments like these and other recent silliness that Lance may not be either, at least in the minds of some inside the organization. For Lynch, Shanahan, and now York not to be on the same page explains last year’s draft mistake and the mess since. This leadership continues to think they are only 1-2 plays away from the Super Bowl when in fact the roster is now weaker than it was, with no draft or cap space options to address it.
Cut to the chase, make Jimmy the 2022 starter, trade Lance and even others (Kittle and/or Deebo) for picks to rebuild your draft capital and refocus resources on filling needs long term, and then please get real football people into the organization, because despite recent success, they have no roadmap at all for the future.
I kinda think the timing of the Surgery by JG was done on purpose as to make him untradable and making the Niners getting stuck w/ him for another year. He could’ve had the surgery right after the season ended, but he waited a couple of months. Making other teams shy away from him because of the unknown. He is getting paid no matter what and w/ the Niners throwing his name everywhere trying to trade him, basically stating to some affect, He not wanted here. So why should he help or cater to the team, that is trying to get rid him. I say keep him, start him, until the first sign of trouble, then let Lance run the rest of the way !! At this stage of the off season, everyones QB situation is now settled, barring an Injury, he isn’t going anywhere, anytime soon !!