Three Trade Destinations for Jimmy Garoppolo
What will propel the San Francisco 49ers forward in 2021 will be the performance of their quarterback.
And that quarterback might not be Jimmy Garoppolo. The 49ers are no longer in a position where they can get by with a bunch of mistakes and inconsistencies at quarterback, especially with Garoppolo's inability to stay healthy at his large salary.
Garoppolo's contract is essentially at the mercy of the 49ers. Sure, he does have a no-trade clause, but it would behoove him to waive it if the 49ers find a suitable trade partner. Garoppolo would struggle to get anywhere near the same salary on the free market, so being traded is the ideal scenario for him should the 49ers finalize their decision to move on.
Here are three trade destinations for Jimmy Garoppolo.
New England Patriots
The most obvious team that Garoppolo can be sent to, and sign off on, is back to the team that drafted him. The New England Patriots would have loved nothing better than to have kept Garoppolo these past few seasons. Now they have a chance to reunite with him as the 49ers look poised to move on from him. Both teams are in perfect position to make this deal.
The Patriots need a quarterback, unless they somehow are delusional enough to believe Jarret Stidham is THE guy. Bill Belichick likely would rather toss the 49ers mid-round pick for Garoppolo to return. There will not be a long acclimation process for him in Josh McDaniels' offensive system. It will just be like riding a bike after years of being away from it. He will just need some test runs to get his feet settled in again.
The highest draft pick the 49ers could get for Garoppolo is one of the Patriots' fourth-round compensatory picks. That is essentially a fifth-round pick, but it is something the 49ers will gladly take to get Garoppolo's contract off the books.
Washington Football Team
The Washington Football team is a destination that is most intriguing to me. They are in a perfect position to run it back as NFC East division champions in 2021. Their defense is superb with a creative offense. All they need is a quarterback to help steer the ship and they'll be successful. The fact that they were able to do well enough with Alex Smith is proof of that. What better quarterback to bring along than Garoppolo. This is a team he would surely waive his trade clause for.
Not to mention that Washington has hired Martin Mayhew as their general manager, so there are strings here the 49ers can pull on. What Garoppolo needs to be at his best is an elite defense and solid offensive coordinator. Washington has that and Mayhew knows what Garoppolo can do with that setup around him.
The 49ers just care to move Garoppolo away because of his salary, so a fifth-round pick, maybe a fourth, could be had here. Washington doesn't give up any serious draft capital and can still look to add a rookie. What gets tricky here is that they too can be in on Matthew Stafford like the 49ers and oh so many quarterback-needy teams.
Chicago Bears
Everyone loves going back home right? That includes Jimmy Garoppolo. Being sent to the Chicago Bears and returning to his home state of Illinois surely could be something he agrees to. It also helps that the Bears are a playoff contending team and need a new quarterback. Going from Mitchell Trubisky to Garoppolo would feel like a significant upgrade.
Trubisky is just awful and the 49ers could actually do a sweet job on selling that to the Bears. That Garoppolo is a player right for Matt Nagy's system and to keep them in the playoffs. It wouldn't surprise me if it worked. The 49ers have swindled the Bears before and Ryan Pace is still the general manager there. Envisioning a trade to the Bears is the toughest of the three teams I have listed because Nagy might push hard against it.
He surely will want to finally have a say on bringing in his own quarterback for his offense since he unfortunately inherited Trubisky. Chicago needs a quarterback and luckily for the 49ers they know Stafford will not be going there. Detroit would never do that. So maybe a mid-round pick wouldn't mean much to the Bears to just have an immediate upgrade?
