Why the 49ers Still Haven't Traded Jimmy Garoppolo

It doesn't seem any team is holding a starting job for Garoppolo.

As another day passes without the 49ers trading Jimmy Garoppolo, it's important to remember one thing:

Some team offered the 49ers a third-round pick for Garoppolo last year and the 49ers said no.

"Obviously, they’ve had offers for Jimmy Garoppolo in the past,” Rapoport said on KNBR in San Francisco on Nov. 28. “The most recent, I believe, was a third-rounder that they got [offered]. If he keeps playing like this, then they should be able to get more. I mean, they could actually end up getting back the second-rounder that they originally traded him for, which if you think about it, the second-rounder, plus all those years of service, plus a trip to the Super Bowl, that’s really good value in a trade."

The 49ers clearly are holding out for a second-round pick in exchange for Garoppolo -- have been holding out for a while. And they think they'll get it, because last year the Eagles got a second rounder for Carson Wentz and the Jets got a second rounder for Sam Darnold.

Here's the difference, though. When the Colts traded for Wentz, they wanted him to be their starter, didn't want a quarterback competition and thought he still could be a franchise quarterback. Thought he still had potential. Same with the Panthers and Darnold. Of course, the Colts and Panthers were miserably wrong, but that was their thought processes.

This year, it doesn't seem any team is holding a starting job for Garoppolo. Doesn't seem any team has him as their first choice. And that's probably because he's 30 and has no potential left. No more room for improvement. He has plateaued and everyone knows it.

Which means other teams probably see him as a high level backup right now. And that means he's worth no more than a fourth-round pick. But if they keep him another year and let him leave in free agency, they'll get a third-round compensatory pick for him next year. That's why the 49ers haven't traded Garoppolo yet.

Keeping Garoppolo and sacrificing another year of Trey Lance's career isn't worth improving one draft pick from a fourth rounder to a third rounder.

They should just take the fourth rounder now and be done with it.