What if Jimmy Garoppolo Never Played in 2017?

Let's play the what-if game.

Jimmy Garoppolo became the 49ers franchise quarterback after starting merely five games for them at the end of the 2017 season. They immediately gave him a five year, $137.5 million extension. And things haven't worked out as the 49ers hoped they would. Now they're looking for an upgrade.

What if Garoppolo never started those five meaningless games?

Head coach Kyle Shanahan didn't seem to want to play Garoppolo down the stretch in 2017 because Garoppolo didn't know the offense. The 49ers acquired him at the trade deadline. But an injury to C.J. Beathard forced Garoppolo into the end of a game against the Seahawks, and Garoppolo threw a meaningless touchdown pass. So he looked ready to play. And Shanahan played him the rest of the season.

But what if Beathard hadn't gotten injured?

In that case, Garoppolo probably wouldn't have played. Wouldn't have won those five games. Wouldn't have become the highest-paid player in the NFL at the time.

Instead, the 49ers probably would have given him the franchise tag, simply because they traded a second-round pick for him. They probably wouldn't have just let him leave as a free agent.

But they might have drafted a quarterback in 2018. Who knows, they might have traded up two spots for Josh Allen?

Either way, the 49ers essentially would have given Garoppolo a one-year prove-it deal in 2018. And then he would have torn his ACL against the Kansas City Chiefs three weeks into the season.

And then what would have happened?

The 49ers surely wouldn't have offered Garoppolo a five-year, $137.5 million contract in 2019. Instead, they might have offered him a two-year, $30 million extension. Or maybe they would have offered him nothing and let him leave as a free agent.

Would any team have signed Garoppolo to be their starting quarterback in 2019 had he not played in 2017? No freaking way. In that case, he would have started only five games in his career -- two in 2016 before he injured his shoulder, and three in 2018 before he injured his knee.

Had Garoppolo not played in 2017, he might be a backup right now for the Miami Dolphins or the New England Patriots.

Never has one man benefitted more from five meaningless games.