SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s days with the San Francisco 49ers became numbered on March 26, when coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch traded up nine spots in the NFL draft presumably to take Garoppolo’s replacement with the third overall pick.
The next question is how many days Garoppolo has left, and if he’ll get traded during the NFL draft beginning Thursday to allow the incoming rookie quarterback to have the starting job unencumbered?
“I think the way our years have gone in the past few years, especially when Jimmy’s gotten hurt, I think our fan base agrees with that and be happy that we’re going to solve that problem this year,” Shanahan said Monday about the need to find a replacement.
Calling Garoppolo, and his injuries, a “problem” is a new turn of phrase from Shanahan regarding the quarterback whom he gave a five-year, $137.5 million contract in 2018 and helped reach the Super Bowl after the 2019 season. And if Shanahan decides to draft Alabama star Mac Jones, Shanahan likely would make him the starter right away and send Garoppolo elsewhere.
“Once you make an organizational decision that we need to get a starting quarterback, you look into all the options of how to get them and you watch the ones you felt you had an option with, and then you look into the college and where you think you can to get them,” Shanahan said.
There appears to be a strong chance Garoppolo is moved in the coming days. That was reinforced by Shanahan’s odd comment when asked if Garoppolo had any assurance at being on the team through the weekend.
“I can’t guarantee that anybody in the world will be alive Sunday, so I can’t guarantee who will be on our roster on Sunday,” Shanahan said.
49ERS LEAN TOWARD JONES
A handful of clues from Monday’s half-hour news conference suggested Shanahan is leaning to Jones, widely considered the most ready to start Week 1 among the options expected to be available to San Francisco at pick No. 3. Jones is the heavy favorite, while North Dakota State’s Trey Lance is believed to be the other viable option with Ohio State’s Justin Fields being eliminated from the conversation, according to an NFL Network report over the weekend.
The 49ers, of course, have a 22-8 regular season record with Garoppolo as the starter since trading for him Halloween 2017. He’ll turn 30 in November and he’s coming off a season in which he appeared in just six games because of two high-ankle sprains. He missed the final 13 games in 2018 with a torn left ACL.
Those injuries would seemingly make difficult getting the most value out of Garoppolo in a trade this spring. He might net a first-round pick after the coming season should he remain healthy and play at his 2019 level, when he ranked in the top five in completion rate, touchdown passes and yards per attempt. The 49ers earned the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs a year after the Rams and Jared Goff did after the 2018 season. The Rams traded Goff with two first-round picks to the Lions for Matthew Stafford over the winter.
Garoppolo has a no-trade clause, though logically he would unlikely use it and forfeit his $24 million in base salary with two years remaining on his contract. The 49ers would have the option to release Garoppolo with little financial penalty should Garoppolo refuse to get dealt, though the team would receive no compensation. Garoppolo has been participating in the team’s virtual offseason program, Lynch and Shanahan said.
CBS Sports’ reported Tuesday there’s a growing belief in NFL circles that Garoppolo will get traded, which came three days after Peter King of NBC Sports wrote in his weekly column San Francisco was softening its price for Garoppolo, indicating Shanahan would take a second-round pick.
“It won’t surprise me if the Niners make Jimmy Garoppolo more available than he’s been,” King wrote. “In other words, instead of trying to get a first-round pick for him, maybe considering taking a two for him. I wonder if the Patriots would deal the 46th pick in the draft, or their second-rounder in 2022, for their old friend.”
Moving Garoppolo could mean the 49ers would be in the market for another quarterback in addition to the No. 3 pick. Their remaining depth chart heading into the draft includes Nate Sudfeld, a former third stringer with the Eagles, Josh Rosen and Josh Johnson. None of the three should be expected to help San Francisco win games should the starter suffer an injury.
SHANAHAN HISTORY LESSON
The last time a Shanahan team drafted a quarterback in the top five, the team drafted another in the fourth round. In 2012, Washington traded up for Robert Griffin III second overall before tapping Kirk Cousins with pick No. 102.
Moving on from Garoppolo comes with risks. No team has ever started a rookie quarterback in a Super Bowl and Garoppolo is well liked in the locker room after being a key member of the conference champion team from two seasons ago.
Perhaps Garoppolo has a better chance at sticking around if Shanahan opts to draft Lance, who many believe needs a year or two of development before being ready to take a starting job. Garoppolo could maintain the starting job for a season with Lance serving as his high-upside understudy.
Either way, Garoppolo won’t be sticking with the 49ers very long.
“I mean, the biggest thing with Jimmy is his injuries, that’s been very tough for us when he’s been hurt. It’s happened two out of these three years, and that’s where it starts and Jimmy knows that. I’ve been very upfront with him with everything,” Shanahan said.