The 49ers’ offseason couldn’t have gotten off to a much better start. They re-signed four of their top free agents – Trent Williams, Kyle Juszczyk, Jason Verrett and K’Waun Williams – and they went out and addressed a slew of other needs on both sides of the ball. For all the boxes they’ve checked though, their lack of movement at the quarterback position mars an otherwise stellar free agency period.
It appears San Francisco is content going into 2021 with Jimmy Garoppolo as the starting quarterback. General manager John Lynch in February indicated as much on a podcast, but also said the team needed to better insulate itself from Garoppolo’s injury woes. Last year he missed nine games and poor quarterback play while he was out directly resulted in a few losses in a year where they were in the playoff hunt until the final couple weeks.
The problem is not moving into 2021 with Garoppolo as the starter. There’s more than enough talent on offense for him to succeed. The problem is that the insulation Lynch said the team needed hasn’t come.
Josh Johnson and Josh Rosen are the only other quarterbacks under contract as March winds down. The top free agent veterans all signed deals elsewhere. Joe Flacco was in for a visit, but wound up inking a contract with the Eagles.
While it makes sense the 49ers wouldn’t want to match or surpass one of the heftier contracts a free agent received, it doesn’t make sense that they wouldn’t be prepared to spend that kind of money on a backup when so many teams were looking for either a starter or a higher quality QB2 option. Quarterback is the most important position on the field, and spending on the backup when the starter has missed 22 games in three seasons would be a valid use of financial resources.
The market now leaves the 49ers with a few options.
First, there’s the possibility of a trade. The Jaguars, who appear poised to draft quarterback Trevor Lawrence No. 1 overall, could be looking to deal backup quarterback Gardner Minshew after signing former 49ers signal caller CJ Beathard to a two-year contract. Minshew, a former sixth-round pick, has cap hits just below $900,000 and just over $1 million over the next two seasons. Unloading a mid-round pick to acquire a cost-controlled QB who’s tossed 37 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions in 20 starts as a pro would make a lot of sense.
Second, they could be readying themselves for a big move in this year’s draft. The 49ers hold the No. 12 pick and may need to trade up to get one of the top four or five signal callers. Day 2 is also an option if they like a player who’ll be available at that point, but it’s hard to believe they’d eschew all veteran options for a second or third-round pick.
Then there’s the third option where they do nothing substantial and roll into the year with Johnson and Rosen as backups, or bring back free agent Nick Mullens and let that trio duke it out for the QB2 job in camp. Although if that’s the club’s way of better insulating themselves from a Garoppolo injury, there may need to be some internal conversations about their evaluations at quarterback.
The 49ers’ offseason has been good so far, and their big-name signings are probably done. If they’re going to better their quarterback depth chart though, they’re going to need to make one more big move either in the trade market or the draft.
