San Francisco 49ers are trying to drive price for Jimmy Garoppolo
The San Francisco 49ers are saying all the right things, but Jimmy Garoppolo is absolutely on the trading block.
It’s only a matter of time. Eventually, the right offer will present itself.
With a month to go until the 2021 NFL Draft, nobody is in a hurry. Any team looking to upgrade at quarterback by trading for San Francisco 49ers signal-caller Jimmy Garoppolo has 30 days to make a move. Heck, maybe longer.
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After the 49ers swapped first-round picks with the Miami Dolphins this year — going from 12th-overall to No. 3 — along with sending over two more first-rounders and a third-round choice, San Francisco is taking Garoppolo’s replacement. And while it’s conceivable the 49ers could start Garoppolo in 2021 before moving on, the smart play would be to recoup assets for him now with an extra year remaining on his contract and some leverage to use.
Still, head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke to reporters on Monday and stated the team isn’t looking to move on from Garoppolo, per NFL.com:
“We went to ownership and said, ‘Hey, things are looking good. We’d like to make this move, but we also don’t want to say goodbye to Jimmy. I think Jimmy, we’ve shown we can get to a Super Bowl with him. We can play at a high level and we don’t think those two things have to be mutually exclusive,'” Lynch said. “So the opportunity to trade up and possibly get a guy that can be a big part of our future and keep Jimmy, who we’re very high on and some positive things are happening this offseason for, that’s kind of the plan we arrived at.
“We’re very excited. It was a stated goal that we needed to come out with the quarterback position being stronger this year and I think we put ourselves in an opportunity to make that happen with this move.”
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Possible Shanahan is being truthful? Sure. However, it’s more likely he and the franchise are hoping potential suitors bring better offers than what might be on the table. There should be a handful of interested teams including the New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, Chicago Bears and others. If any come calling with multiple  top-100 picks, San Francisco should be listening intently.
For now, the 49ers are playing their hand well. Just don’t be surprised when they shuffle the cards and deal Garoppolo.
