The odds that the 49ers can get a decent return for Jimmy Garoppolo appeared to take a huge hit on Monday. The Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints both went in a different direction on the QB front, trading for Matt Ryan and re-signing for Jameis Winston, respectively.
Now San Francisco has a list of suitors that might number zero and Garoppolo’s $26.9 million sitting on their books. So where do the 49ers go from here? Longtime beat writer Matt Maiocco broke down the situation with Papa & Lund, concluding they are pretty much out of good options.
“I don’t know what the 49ers can do other than get him healthy and then wait until training camp and see if any team wants him then, and then release him,” Maiocco said on KNBR. “I guess they could say ‘Hey, would you like to take a $18 million pay cut?’ Or I don’t know what the price would be. They’ve guaranteed $2 million to Nate Sudfeld, you don’t do that for a No. 3 quarterback. You’re convinced that you are moving on from an average NFL starting quarterback for a guy that you expect to be a superstar. That’s why you trade up to No. 3. Sure appears to me as if they’ve run out of options.”
The Panthers could be in play, but their situation is complicated by having to pay Sam Darnold north of $18 million in 2022. The Texans could also be in play, but they are far away from contending, and have young QB Davis Mills who impressed last season.
What about keeping Garoppolo? Maiocco doesn’t think that’s very viable either. For one, there’s a high likelihood he’d be a $26 million backup. Secondly, he doesn’t think Garoppolo would want to come back. Garoppolo talked about how difficult the 2021 season was for him after the 49ers were knocked out of the playoffs, and Maiocco doesn’t believe Jimmy G is open to another season either playing behind Trey Lance or starting while the fans call for Lance every week.
There’s also Monday’s bizarre report from ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio, who said that he’s been told John Lynch had a deal on the table from a team willing to give up two second-rounders for Garoppolo. This report came out just hours before the Wentz and Winston news stories broke.
Maiocco is as baffled as anyone by this report.
“We’re going to just run the gamut here,” Maiocco said. “Either John Lynch really has not been telling people that. That’s one. Or two, John Lynch has been telling people that and he’s bluffing or lying in order to try to get a little bit of action. Or it is true, and John Lynch made a horrible mistake.
“It’s one of those three. The absolute best value that the 49ers could have gotten for him, and this is pre-injury, and I’m sure I even said it here, is maybe a second-round pick that turns into a one with either playing time or number of wins the team gets, and a third or fourth-round pick. That report was two second-round picks. It defies logic that that could have been a real offer that a team made and the 49ers did not take it. I honestly do not know what the answer is but it’s got to be one of those three things.”
Listen to the full interview below. You can listen to every KNBR interview on our podcast page at knbr.com/podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Catch Papa & Lund weekdays from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. on KNBR 104.5 / 680 and streaming live on KNBR.com.
