The 49ers have won four straight games to take over first place in the NFC West, and while the defense’s performance is perhaps the biggest reason for the team’s 7-4 mark, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo‘s steady presence has been a key factor as well. While much can change between now and the end of the season, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com says the Niners and Garoppolo are open to a new contract that would keep the veteran passer in the Bay Area in 2023.
Of course, Garoppolo was the subject of numerous reports throughout the offseason, as San Francisco had every intention of trading him and starting life with Trey Lance under center. Indeed, the 49ers and Commanders reportedly had the parameters of a deal in place in the early part of the year, but a March shoulder surgery forced Washington to back off and completely stagnated Garoppolo’s trade market (a recent report from Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area suggests that GM John Lynch was expecting to receive two first-round picks in a Garoppolo deal, though Maiocco himself concedes that seems unrealistic).
As the months dragged on, it became increasingly likely that Garoppolo would remain with the Niners as Lance insurance, a possibility that became reality in late August, when the two sides agreed to a restructured deal that featured a significant pay cut. Per the terms of that contract, the 49ers cannot put a franchise tag on Garoppolo at season’s end, so he will be eligible for free agency in March 2023 with no strings attached. In a free agent quarterback market that is expected to be comprised of its usual blend of question marks/retreads (Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, Teddy Bridgewater) and players that will never actually hit the market (Lamar Jackson), Garoppolo may well be the top QB available (with all due apologies to Tom Brady, who will turn 46 before the 2023 season gets underway).
He will not, therefore, come cheap. Spotrac presently estimates that he is worth roughly $35MM per year, and given his 41-19 record in San Francisco (including playoffs) and generally solid play throughout his career, that does not seem like a stretch. His injury history is concerning, though the premium that teams have to pay for quality QBs should allow him to get that $35MM AAV.
Whether the 49ers will be the team to pay him that money is an entirely different story. We heard last month that the club’s impending cap crunch — OverTheCap.com currently projects the Niners to have just $1MM in effective cap space, based on a projected cap of $225MM — could make a Garoppolo re-up quite difficult, and that would be especially true if the team is only interested in a one-year contract, as Rapoport seems to suggest. Putting aside for a moment whether Garoppolo himself would be amenable to such a pact, it just does not seem likely that San Francisco could absorb a Garoppolo contract without spreading his cap hit over multiple seasons, and a multi-year contract at the rate that Garoppolo will be seeking would double as an admission that the 2021 trade-up for Lance was a total waste of valuable draft capital.
After being reinserted into the lineup to take over for an injured Lance in Week 2, Garoppolo has thrown 16 TDs against just four interceptions while completing over 67% of his passes. That amounts to a QB rating of 103.0, the fifth-best mark in the league.
Take then (brianiac Lynch and the rest of 49er MGT) for everything they’ve got Jimmy……..they’re brilliant plan of playing a guy who threw what less than 100 passes since High School melted down (albeit due to injury) pretty quickly as he pretty much sucked when he did play this year……..they were ready to run you out of town at any cost…..until the Lynch master plan fell apart…..
I watch this team whenever they’re available on TV and constantly wonder why the Niners have been so set on playing a kid with no experience—and from afar, no real, discernible superstar-quality skills—over a guy who simply wins. The Niners play well under Jimmy G. Trading or releasing him never made sense
It’s simply because Jimmy G is limited, he struggles throwing the deep ball, and often misses wide open receivers deep only to check the ball down for minimal gains.
That’s why they wanted the change in the first place. Plus, admittingly, Jimmy G wasn’t playing this well before, so there’s that, and with a team already possessing several stars, they were trying to extend their window by saving cap space going with a younger QB.
Now that he’s hurt it is easy to say they made the wrong decision. Everyone knew Lance would need to sit at least a year before he was ready to play, but now come year two he needed to play, hence the change. He was only going to learn so much sitting on the sidelines.
The jury is still out on the move itself, you cannot call it a colossal failure, because we haven’t even seen Trey Lance play but less than a handful of games.
He’s also shown flashes of brilliance in practice and some in the games as well, but he just needs experience to knock off the rust and to learn through mistakes and repetition..
He couldn’t do that sitting down..The locker room LOVES and ADORES Jimmy G, and even they saw what an amazing talent Lance could become, his arm talent, his football IQ, how hard he works, etc. Lance even managed to win over his teammates, and had them excited about his potential and their future.
So, unless you want to say John Lynch, Kyle Shannahan, and the 49ers current players are all idiots, taking a chance on Trey Lance and his talents were well worth the gamble. Not to mention the simple fact, he just offered the team things Jimmy G simply couldn’t..They saw it, everyone saw it…
Whether it works or not, in theory, and at the time, it was the correct move for the 49ers to make. Maybe they got too greedy wanting to improve upon their roster, but I’d much rather have a coach and GM that wants to improve rather than remaining stagnant when they know there are areas they can improve upon.
Also, so many people give Lynch credit for drafting their defensive players, which he deserves alot of, but don’t discount the role DeMeco Ryans has played vouching for certain players and wanting then to draft certain guys.
Even when Ryans was their LB coach he vouched for Greenlaw, and told management to draft him.
The 49ers are literally ran as a team, yes Lynch and Kyle have the final say, but McDaniel was also a crucial part to their running game success as well. Those are just some examples, but the more information that comes out the more you realize how well this organization is ran. They listen to eachothers ideas, and together they agree on making the best decisions for the betterment of the franchise. That is their scouts, the position coaches, coordinators, the head coach, the GM, etc.
That is also why the 49ers will continue to be one of the more successful franchises.
The trade up and drafting of Lance has turned out to be as big a debacle as everyone (except Lynch) expected at the time. Imagine how this team would look had they used those picks to actually make the team better..
I’d say “except Shanahan” rather than “except Lynch”. Lynch’s picks on defense have been mostly good-and I highly doubt that a team with a famously particular offensive coach got the idea to draft a young developmental quarterback from its defensively minded GM.
Congratulations to everyone here who was definitely confident at the time that Jimmy G would have his second ever healthy season.
2019 and 2021?
He missed two games with injury in 2021 and ended the season hurt.
Forgot they played 17 last year, whoops. And I guess 15/16 is horseshoes and hand grenades anyways.
Oooof, they’re all the masters of hindsight. Some guy criticizes Lynch’s intelligence while misspelling “brainiac”. Freaking genius rocky 7. Remember last year when all the posters complained as to why they didn’t just draft Mac Jones. These people mock Lynch for drafting a flop. The proof? A season ending injury. Some proof. I’ll end by laughing at all the doubters in Philly who’s hindsight, prior to this season, mocked the Eagles for drafting mvp candidate Jalen Hurts. Who btw, has very similar skill set as Lance.
You’re confused, Claude. I’m not even a fan of the Niners and can say that any fan of the game could see the talent Jimmy has. I’m not saying he’s the best in the NFL or Hall of Fame worthy. He’s just a good quarterback
If anything, your logic applies more to the drafting of Lance but do blather on. I mean, other than health concerns what did Garoppolo do to deserve to suddenly learn he’s not a part of future plans in SF?
It’s not hindsight, it was just weird logic applied by whomever was doing the drafting
I could not care less about the Niners or their fans. Just a good team, with a good QB
way to stuff three different subjects into one giant, incoherent, paragraph
You’re giving Lance too much credit. He had one season in a small college. In any case, it was a huge overpay, imho. They could’ve stayed pat, and likely have gotten either Lance or Fields. Or stuck with Garoppolo and taken Parsons. Strange, and kept the 2023 1st rounder.
They may have had the chance to take Fields if they stayed pat, but there were several reports that Lance wouldn’t last that long..
You don’t even know if some team wouldn’t have leapfrogged then to take Fields.
It’s always easy to say that after the fact, but the facts are they pulled off a difficult trade making a difficult decision they thought they needed to in order to remain competitive for the foreseeable future.
What people fail to realize is even if they stuck with Jimmy’s deal, or extended him then you better also say goodbye to Deebo, much less being able to improve upon the roster through free agency..
Hurts was a second round pick with a lot more gameplay to go off than giving up a humongous haul for a guy with one season of FCS experience. Lance should’ve been a late 2nd round pick with a chance to develop. You don’t give up that much capital for a guy in desperate need of a “redshirt year” or two at the pro level.
Of course, Hurts has to sustain this level of play to continue to be considered the future long term. The Eagles are built very solidly at all positions right now, but some of those are short term investments. Hurts will need to hone his passing game to continue that level of success (especially with two excellent targets available for the next few years in Brown and Smith). As of now, he’s a great return for a second round pick and Sirianni (and Shane Steichen, who was popular with Herbert as well) has been brilliant in how he’s handled him. They will need to evolve in the passing game to sustain their success in the future, as I said.
Lance is not in the same boat. He and Hurts can both run, which is why you mentioned their similar skillsets, but I do not consider them to be as close in any other way. Lance’s arm is much better, but he simply just does not have the experience with professional routes or timing at any level. Hurts does, even if he can have trouble with accuracy at times. Lance just has better arm talent, but Hurts has a better understanding of NFL offense. He’s completing about 68% of his throws this year, after being horrendous in that area the last two years. A lot of that is the new offense and his getting used to it, but Hurts is also making good decisions to avoid low percentage plays. His mental acuity is augmenting his physical talent, which is the opposite scenario that Lance is in.
@claude raymond …You are 100% spot on correct!!
Thank you, for it isn’t very often on here you find a reasonable, sensible comment!!
Atlanta should offer him a contract and kick Coach Smith’s boy to the curb.
49ers really cannot afford a Jimmy G extension, unless he takes a severe “I want to remain a 49er” discount.
They’re about to have to pay Bosa top of the market money as well, and they simply cannot afford a market value Jimmy G extension if they want to keep the best parts of this team together.
That is part of the reason why they even went after a rookie QB in the first place…
Sure, it would be nice to be able to sign Jimmy G to an extension, and just let him and Trey battle it out to see who the better QB is, but that isn’t reality…If you want to remain a contending team for any sustainable amount of time you have to make difficult decisions…
Why is that so hard for some people to comprehend??
Oh hey, Jimmy G is hurt again. Shocking. I like the guy as a player, but there are reasons not to count on him.
Jimmy G is that homely girl none of us wanted to take to the high school prom…until we realized the alternative was taking our sister.
Then he gets hurt…… fast recovery please
this story aged with a harsh sad face
Oops