The 49ers organization’s public trust in quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo makes it more difficult to determine how they behave in an unusually active quarterback market. While Deshaun Watson’s trade request has landed a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and other veteran quarterbacks on teams looking to turn the page in that position, San Francisco’s moves below middle this year could be less dramatic than the shipping from Garoppolo in favor of a new starter.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters during his end-of-season press conference that he believed that Garoppolo was part of the core of the team.
“Yes, I want Jimmy back to our core. Good thing he’s not a free agent, ”Shanahan said.
That was in line with what he said after the team’s victory over the Cardinals in Week 16 when asked about Garoppolo’s future. He said he expected Garoppolo to be the starter, but the team would not pass on an obvious upgrade.
“Now, you look at every road and see if there is anything that can make you a ton better, it’s the same answer for every position,” Shanahan said in late December. “But look at Jimmy, see what he has done, see where he stands with us financially and we better have a really good answer if you are going to find something better than that, because Jimmy has shown in a year that he is a man who can take us to the Super Bowl and I also think Jimmy will get a lot better the more he plays. ”
Sounds like the 49ers are happy with Garoppolo, keeping their design choices, and improving a roster due to losing a number of players in a year when the salary cap could become a barrier to keeping key free agents. A Watson trade could throw a key into those plans, but let’s just assume that’s not on the table.
Just because Garoppolo may return as a starter in 2021 doesn’t mean quarterback moves can’t be made. San Francisco struggled last season when backups Nick Mullens and CJ Beathard played, and both will hit the open market off-season. Mullens is limited, while Beathard is indebted for unrestricted freedom of choice.
Shanahan was more open to the opportunity to make changes to the backup quarterback spot for the first time since 2017.
“So you have to look at everything when you’re trying to fill out a quarterback roster,” Shanahan said. “We have a starting quarterback, but to know where these guys will be, we have to re-sign the guys we have or see if we can upgrade them through the concept or free agency. To do that, you have to evaluate everything so you know how to stack them and all. So we will certainly be looking at a lot more of that kind of thing this year than we were last year. “
This is where it gets particularly interesting for the 49ers. Backup quarterback is an unusually important spot on their roster given Garoppolo’s injury history. He has missed 23 of the team’s last 48 regular season games. Partly because of those injuries, he has yet to establish himself as the long-term answer among the center of the team.
The risk of being in the middle of a playoff window without their starting quarterback is too high for the 49ers to just fill out the quarterback roster with cheap backup options. Plus, if Garoppolo doesn’t answer some of the lingering questions about his ability to consistently execute the 49ers’ offense, they should start exploring options for life after Garoppolo.
Finding solutions to those two bigger quarterback problems is more urgent for San Francisco than moving on from Garoppolo.
They have the No. 12 pick and enough capital to potentially move up the ranks for a player in this year’s draft class who could solve the long-term backup QB and QB problem all at once.
Or they could draft a quarterback and chase down a free agent like Jacoby Brissett or Ryan Fitzpatrick in an effort to instantly upgrade the QB2 spot. Neither Fitzpatrick, Brissett, nor any affordable quarterback from a free agent will take the 49ers to a Super Bowl, but they could win games if Garoppolo were unavailable for an extended period of time.
Exact moves and choices can be discussed, but the general point is that the 49ers’ quarterback room will likely look very different last season, even if they don’t start from Garoppolo. In fact, bolstering the depth chart behind Garoppolo is probably a higher priority than putting together a trade for a new starter.
Given how little the 49ers were willing to put on the table during Matthew Stafford’s trade talks – a report said they had not made an official offer when the first round was on the table – it’s hard to imagine being heavily involved outside of Watson. other potentially available veteran callers.
Expected changes will come to the 49ers’ quarterback room this off-season, but that won’t knock Garoppolo’s ticket out of the Bay Area.