John Lynch Says the 49ers Will Not Release Jimmy Garoppolo

The Jimmy Garoppolo Saga just won't end.

The 49ers could cut him to today and create more than $17 million in cap space which would allow them to sign multiple starters and improve their chances to win the Super Bowl. Instead, they intend to keep him until his surgically-repaired shoulder fully heals, and then try to trade him again during training camp.

“I think we’re fortunate that we have three quarterbacks we believe in – Trey [Lance], Jimmy and Nate [Sudfeld]," John Lynch said Monday at the owners' meetings in Miami. "Some people are looking for one. So I think that’s a position of strength.”

When asked if the 49ers eventually would consider releasing Garoppolo if they fail to find a trade partner, Lynch indicated they will not trade him. "He’s too good of a player. I don’t foresee that, and I think Jimmy will be playing for us or he’ll be playing for somebody else. He’s too good of a player not to be.”

Here's how I interpret Lynch's comments.

He seems 100 percent serious. He knows the 49ers will get a third-round compensatory pick in 2023 for Garoppolo if they keep him and he leaves in free agency next year, and he wants that pick more than anything apparently, so they'll keep Garoppolo unless some team offers the 49ers something better than a late third for him.

And a team almost certainly won't offer a third-round pick for Garoppolo, because he's limited, he's injury prone, he's expensive and he has just one year left on his contract. No team will trade a Day 2 pick for one year of Mediocre Jimmy.

So Garoppolo most likely will spend another season with the 49ers. And that means he most likely will be their starting quarterback once again. Lynch said it himself, "He'll be playing for us or someone else."

Playing. Not riding the bench. Can you see them making him a $27 million backup. I can't.

The saga continues.