Will it be an Issue if the 49ers Retain Jimmy Garoppolo for the 2022 Season?
The 49ers have given the green light for Jimmy Garoppolo and his agent to seek a team who will trade for him.
However, this looks like a last ditch effort by the 49ers in an attempt to get something in return for him. The likelihood of him getting traded is slim. Cutting him is the best option for the 49ers, but what if they don’t believe that?
They could look to retain Garoppolo for the 2022 season and be Trey Lance’s backup. He’s a massive upgrade over Nate Sudfeld in the event that Lance misses any time, so that can entice the 49ers. And it’s not like they have an issue with the salary Garoppolo is at right now. But this is playing with fire given the awkwardness and potential division that can arise.
So is it or will it be an issue if the 49ers retain Garoppolo for the 2022 season as a backup?
I think it will be. There is going to be a stretch in the season or at least a handful of games when Lance will have some ugly moments. And if those moments are factors into losing games and steering the 49ers away from playoff contention, then it will certainly start to become tense around that locker room.
Maybe this team is strong enough to keep pushing forward. It wouldn’t shock me, but I’m going to short the 49ers on that. It’s easy in theory for them to say they’ll be okay with whatever the decision at quarterback is. It’s another when that quarterback, Lance, is struggling and is losing games. Some teammates will be tempted to look at Garoppolo who they associate winning football with, despite him not being a driving force for why they win.
Steve Young, who is familiar with awkwardness at quarterback, would disagree with my sentiment. He doesn’t see much of a difference if Lance struggles with or without Garoppolo on the roster this season.
"What is different if Jimmy Garoppolo is not there? This is a Super Bowl team, people believe that, and the QB who everyone's focused on and staring at day in, and day out is struggling.” Said Young Tuesday on Bay Area radio station 95.7 The Game. “Yes, it is more complex with Jimmy standing there, there's no question. I get that. What I would say to Trey is, that situation is not necessarily harder than the fact that you're struggling and the whole team is staring at you. The whole town is staring at you, you're not doing the job and you need to start doing the job."
Young brings some adequate points here. If he’s struggling, the pressure is going to be there regardless of Garoppolo. It’s definitely true on that account and he even acknowledges that Garoppolo being there takes it up a notch. But I would argue that it takes it up more than a notch. The 49ers could start out 3-5 again and Lance could see himself pulled faster than the leash they were giving Garoppolo last year heading into the Week 10 matchup with the Rams. It really all depends on if Lance is struggling so much that he’s a reason the 49ers are losing and if Kyle Shanahan doesn’t have the patience to help Lance work through it.
One thing Shanahan and the players won’t have any patience for is the full-court press from the media. If Lance causes losses, then you can bet your bottom dollar the media is going to hound them with quarterback questions and that is something they cannot absorb patiently. They were already fed up midway through training camp last year with all of the quarterback questions, so I imagine they’ll be reeling if Garoppolo is retained.
All the 49ers need to do is turn the page. Once they realize a trade is not possible, they need to cut him. Give yourself the cap space to make an in-season addition via trade or free agency, or even rollover the space to next year. Whatever they do, they need to make the last and final full commitment message to Lance by moving Garoppolo away from the team.
