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.

Jan. 2: Lance will indeed get the second start of his career, as Garoppolo will miss the Niners’ Week 17 contest against the Texans and will require offseason surgery on his injured thumb, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. That does not preclude Garoppolo from suiting up for the club’s Week 18 bout with the Rams, though if San Francisco should qualify for the playoffs today — which will happen if it defeats Houston and New Orleans loses to Carolina — Lance would presumably start the regular season finale as well.

The surgery should not have much of an impact on Garoppolo’s trade market this offseason, but his sustaining an injury at a critical juncture underscores why the 49ers made the bold move to acquire Lance in the first place and why they plan to trade Garoppolo in the coming months.

Dec. 31: The 49ers have listed Jimmy Garoppolo as doubtful for Sunday’s game against the Texans, as Matt Barrows of The Athletic tweets. But, for what it’s worth, head coach Kyle Shanahan says he’s still “holding out hope” for Garoppolo being able to start.

[RELATED: 49ers Plan To Trade Jimmy Garoppolo In Offseason]

Garoppolo is dealing with a Grade 3 sprain, rather than a fracture, according to Shanahan. That at least gives the quarterback some chance of suiting up as the Niners push for a postseason berth.

“I’ve been told he does not need surgery right now,” said Shanahan (Twitter link via Cam Inman of the East Bay Times). “To clear that up, (sprain) is way it was worded to me, he has a Grade III sprain. Reason they never mentioned to me a fracture it doesn’t have much to do with the sprain; it pulled off a fleck of the bone.”

Garoppolo suffered the injury during the second quarter of Thursday’s game, a 20-17 loss to the Titans. If he can’t go this week, rookie Trey Lance will be in line for his start No. 2, his first since Week 5.

So far this year, Garoppolo gone 8-6 in 14 starts, completing 68% of his throws for 3,494 yards and 19 touchdowns against ten interceptions. Lance, meanwhile, went 15-of-29 for 192 yards and one INT in his start, a low-scoring loss to the Cardinals.

The Niners control their own destiny in the Wild Card race, so wins over the Texans and Rams would punch their ticket to the playoffs.

Jimmy Garoppolo reportedly suffered a thumb sprain during Thursday’s loss to the Titans, but the injury may be worse than initially thought. One source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Garoppolo suffered “a more significant injury” than a sprain, putting his availability for Sunday’s game against the Texans in doubt. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that the 49ers QB suffered a chipped bone and torn ligament in his right thumb, but there’s still hope that he’ll be able to play this weekend. Schefter clarifies (on Twitter) that it’s a UCL tear for Garoppolo.

[RELATED: 49ers Plan To Trade Jimmy Garoppolo In Offseason]

“It’s a thumb sprain, so I think you guys know how those are,” coach Kyle Shanahan said earlier today. “It didn’t feel great today, wasn’t able to throw today and we’ll see how it is on Wednesday. Hopefully it will get better.”

According to the head coach, Garoppolo suffered the injury during the second quarter of Thursday’s game. The QB ended up throwing an interception on the first drive of the second half, his second pick of the game. Garoppolo missed Monday’s practice, with rookie Trey Lance taking the spot atop the depth chart. Garoppolo is set to be reevaluated on Wednesday.

After the 49ers gave up a bounty to select Lance with the third-overall pick, the 30-year-old Garoppolo has had a bounce-back season in San Francisco. The starter has gone 8-6 in 14 starts, completing 68 percent of his passes for 3,494 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. Lance got a start back in Week 5, completing 15 of his 29 pass attempts for 192 yards and one interception in a loss to the Cardinals.

The future of 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has once again become a talking point, though this time it’s due to his stretch of quality play as opposed to an injury or the presence of rookie passer Trey Lance. Over his last four games, three of which have resulted in wins, Garoppolo has posted QB ratings of 100.6, 100.6, 141.7, and 126.3, throwing for six TDs against just one interception.

He has helped the Niners crawl back into the NFC playoff race, and he has missed just one full game this year due to injury. With Lance struggling in his one start this year, many have wondered whether San Francisco might consider keeping Garoppolo for 2022, the final year of his current contract.

Earlier this week, head coach Kyle Shanahan sort of left the door open for a Garoppolo return next season, though he was adamant that Lance is still the team’s long-term play at QB. And as Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported this morning, the 49ers — barring a Super Bowl run — will seek to trade Garoppolo this offseason, thereby clearing the path for Lance (video link). That is, of course, in line with what we have heard since Lance was drafted.

So Garoppolo’s recent run is not only keeping the team in the postseason picture, it is also increasing the return that San Francisco will realize in an offseason trade. The 30-year-old passer does have a no-trade clause, and his performance makes it more likely that a team he wants to play for will be involved in the bidding for him, which makes it a win-win proposition for him and the 49ers. Matt Barrows of The Athletic, who also believes the 49ers’ preferred course of action is to trade Garoppolo, says that such a deal will likely include some sort of extension or reworked contract with the acquiring club.

If Garoppolo should start to struggle or get hurt again, the Niners could still release him and save $25.6MM against the cap, but they would obviously prefer to swing a trade and net draft pick compensation. Garoppolo will battle former Shanahan pupil and would-be 49er Kirk Cousins in this afternoon’s key matchup with the surging Vikings.

Trey Lance will get the start at quarterback for the 49ers today in place of the injured Jimmy Garoppolo, but as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com writes, Garoppolo will get his job back as soon as he is healthy enough. The Niners hope that will happen when they return from their Week 6 bye to take on the Colts in Week 7.

Although San Francisco obviously selected Lance with the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s draft with the hopes that he would be the long-term solution at quarterback, head coach Kyle Shanahan has made it clear ever since Lance was drafted that Garoppolo would remain the club’s starter in the near-term, and perhaps even through the 2022 season (though that would certainly qualify as a surprise).

When recently asked about the possibility of getting Lance more involved in the offense, Shanahan said, “There’s not a quarterback battle right now. We’re going with [Garoppolo] who I think is playing very well. I’m happy that he is so Trey is not thrown into any situations he has to do too early.”

At the time Shanahan made that statement, the 49ers had just lost their first game of the season, a narrow defeat to the Packers that dropped them to 2-1 on the season. But they followed that up with a loss to the Seahawks last week, a game in which Garoppolo sustained the calf injury that limited him to one half of play and that is keeping him on the sidelines this week. Though he threw a TD pass on the Niners’ first drive of the Seattle contest, Garoppolo struggled to get anything going during the rest of his time on the field.

For the season, the soon-to-be 30-year-old has completed 66.1% of his passes for five TDs and two interceptions, good for a 96.2 QB rating. After replacing Garoppolo against the Seahawks, Lance threw a 76-yard TD strike to Deebo Samuel, but he was unable to cross midfield again until there was just 1:20 left in the game. He ultimately completed nine of 18 passes for 157 yards and two scores.

Of course, if the North Dakota State product impresses today, Shanahan could change his tune in a hurry. But if Lance should struggle, then look for Garoppolo to be reinserted into the starting lineup in two weeks’ time.

The 49ers (especially head coach Kyle Shanahan) have continually said that there isn’t a QB competition in San Francisco. Shanhan reiterated that point today when asked about the coaching staff’s willingness to get rookie Trey Lance more involved in the offense.

[RELATED: Latest On Trey Lance, 49ers QB “Competition”]

“There’s not a quarterback battle right now,” the coach said (via ESPN’s Nick Wagoner on Twitter). “We’re going with our starting quarterback who I think is playing very well. I’m happy that he is so Trey is not thrown into any situations he has to do too early.”

Shanahan’s starter is Jimmy Garoppolo, who has completed 67.4-percent of his passes for 760 yards and four touchdowns (vs. only one interception) for the 2-1 49ers. Lance, the third-overall pick in this year’s draft, has seen the field for only seven total snaps. However, two of those snaps have resulted in touchdowns, including a crucial score during his team’s loss to the Packers the other night.

Considering the draft capital that the organization invested in Lance, the North Dakota State product will surely take over at center eventually. However, until Garoppolo does something to lose his role, the rookie will remain the second QB on the depth chart.

“Trey’s our backup quarterback,” Shanahan said (via Yahoo’s Jason Owens). “This isn’t the preseason. We’re not just going back and forth all the time. Trey goes in for specific plays or things we want to do.”