Is Jimmy Garoppolo the 49ers’ franchise QB or isn’t he? The answer is different depending on who you ask.
According to a report by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, he isn’t just yet, and has the remainder of the 2017 season to prove that he should be the guy. If he doesn’t, the 49ers have other options in free agency or the draft they could explore.
But 49ers general manager John Lynch sung a slightly different tune when he joined Murph & Mac on Friday morning. While Lynch didn’t explicitly say that Garoppolo is the QB of the future when asked about the report, he did say that Jimmy G has all the makings to be that, and has only strengthened his position with an impressive first week at 49ers headquarters.
“I think what’s clear and what needs to be communicated to our fan base is we have great belief and that’s only been strengthened in his week that he’s been here,” Lynch said of Garoppolo. “Because he does some special things on the practice field, he does some special things in the meeting room. Is there some unknown? He hasn’t played a ton of football, we’re fully aware of that, but we feel, and I think a lot of people throughout this league feel, like we got a tremendous deal on a guy that has all the makings of a franchise quarterback. We’re thrilled to have him and that’s what Jimmy Garoppolo is to us.”
Lynch also talked about he and Kyle Shanahan being high on Garoppolo from the moment they were hired by San Francisco this offseason, and that they tried to acquire the QB from New England over the summer.
“I can tell you that when that opportunity presented itself and Kyle and I started talking about it, it was about 10 minutes in that we said ‘this is a no-brainer, this is something we have to do,’” Lynch said. “Number one we’re huge believers in Jimmy Garoppolo and his ability to be a franchise quarterback. So much so that we inquired throughout this last offseason, and were quickly shut down by Bill Belichick, but we did inquire to his availability.
“We’re huge believers in what he brings to the table, and I can’t speak for Adam (Schefter) but I will say that during the conversations that Kyle and I had, and then you bring Paraag (Marathe) in and you start going through all the reasons why it’s a good idea, and for that alone it was a great idea for us. At the end as kind’ve a throw away you said ‘look it, if all you’re doing is acquiring a chip that a lot of people see valuable then it’s a good deal for that.’”
Listen to the full interview below, to hear Lynch on Garoppolo, skip to 4:30.
