San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch sound tired of answering the questions surrounding Jimmy Garoppolo.
In their 40-minute postmortem press conference Monday to cap their 6-10 finish to the 2020 season, Lynch pointed out, again, the expectation is Garoppolo will be back under center as the starting quarterback in 2021.
“Kyle and I both have spoken and spoken fairly directly as to the fact that we expect Jimmy to be our quarterback and that’s consistently met with other stories, but that’s not of concern to us because, as of right now, (CEO) Jed (York) has charged us with being the two guys (making decisions),” Lynch said.
That’s consistent with the team’s messaging since November, when Shanahan first said he expects Garoppolo to remain in place for next season despite the speculation indicating otherwise. Of course, Shanahan wouldn’t guarantee it because he’s treating quarterback like any position on the roster. If there’s a feasible upgrade, he will be aggressive in trying to make it, which leaves the door open for a different option.
In fact, Shanahan said he’ll be looking into the quarterback position harder this offseason than in previous years because Garoppolo is the only signal-caller that’s started games for the 49ers under contract next season. But he won’t be looking hard for a new starter, he indicated.
Backups Nick Mullens and C.J. Beathard are both slated for free agency, while Mullens might not be able to throw again until training camp because he sustained ligament damage in his throwing elbow during his final start of the season Dec. 20.
“So, you have to look into everything when you’re trying to fill out a quarterback roster,” Shanahan said. “We have a starting quarterback, but in order to know where these guys are going to be, we’ve got to get either re-sign the guys we’ve got or see if we can upgrade them through the draft or free agency. In order to do that, you have to evaluate everything, so you know how to stack them and stuff. So, definitely will be looking at a lot more of that stuff this year than we did last year.”
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But Shanahan and Lynch could end the speculation and cement Garoppolo as their starter by reworking his contract.
Garoppolo is due to make $24.1 million in base salary with a $26.9 million cap hit thanks to bonuses. The 49ers could move on with a minimal financial penalty (about $2.8 million, according to Overthecap) if they trade or release him. But the team could guarantee him more money by converting his salary to a signing bonus, creating more salary cap space, and end all the talk, at least until next season. San Francisco, after all, has some 40 looming free agents, some of which might be hard to keep without additional cap space (like fullback Kyle Juszczyk or slot corner K’Waun Williams).
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The restructure idea was brought up to Lynch on Monday.
“We don’t need (salary cap) room right now,” Lynch said. “As we start to go through and prioritize and we’re in the process of doing that right now. When we start signing those players, that might be necessary. I think we’ve had good discussions with Jimmy.”
Garoppolo spoke to reporters Monday for the first time since suffering his second high ankle sprain to his right leg in November. He was asked if the team has given him any assurances he’ll be back in 2021.
“Yeah. I honestly haven’t put too much thought into it,” he said. “All those things get said, but at the end of the day, I’m a 49er. I’m here to play quarterback. I’m here to be the quarterback of this team and every day I go out there and try to prove that to my teammates and my coaches. At the end of the day, that’s what really matters. So, the people in this building, I love them. I love every one of them. Like I said before, it’s a great group to be around. John and Kyle, I think they’ve talked to the media and said what they’ve said, and I love those guys for it. Yeah, this is where I want to be and I love it here.”
The 49ers, since Shanahan and Lynch took over, have often decided to wait on their biggest decisions so they don’t tip their hand ahead of the NFL draft, which is generally the last significant machination of the roster construction process each spring. The team decided to draft Mike McGlinchey at No. 9 in the first round in 2018 to be their right tackle, even though they had Trent Brown in tow, who had been a productive starter.
The team wanted to move on from Brown long before the draft but didn’t because they didn’t want to telegraph the McGlinchey pick. Brown was traded to the New England Patriots soon after they made McGlinchey the selection. They also signed safety Jaquiski Tartt to a contract extension just after Day 1 of that draft, which they could have done beforehand, but didn’t want teams to rule out the idea they could draft Florida State’s star safety Derwin James.
Last spring, the team had an idea Joe Staley was going to retire before the draft, but didn’t announce until they had a replacement in Trent Williams, whom they acquired via trade from Washington. It happened on the third day of the draft. Had the Staley news come out sooner, they might have been pigeonholed into taking a tackle in Round 1, where Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs was available. (Wifs ended up with Tampa Bay at pick No. 13, the selection the 49ers had before trading back one spot to take defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw.)
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So there’s reason to believe the 49ers are waiting for the other shoe to drop before making any substantial decision on Garoppolo, aside from telling reporters they expect him to be their quarterback. After all, it’s difficult to forecast what the quarterback market will look like in the coming months.
The Detroit Lions, who have quarterback Matthew Stafford, don’t have a general manager or head coach yet, leaving Stafford’s future unknown to the rest of the league.
The same is true for Matt Ryan in Atlanta, Shanahan’s former quarterback who he took to the Super Bowl as offensive coordinator during the 2016 season. The Falcons are searching for their general manager and head coach, leaving the possibility they could start over at quarterback, potentially with their No. 4 pick in the draft.
Of course, those veteran options are expensive and would cost a substantial trade package. Plus the 49ers players might not love it, given how hard they’ve gone to bat for Garoppolo this season. Garoppolo is a very popular player in the locker room who’s had near unanimous support since he was acquired in 2017.
“You talk about his leadership, you talk about the wins that he has, where he led us, where we’ve been without him, the wins that he produces,” tight end George Kittle said. “Jimmy’s everything that you want in a franchise quarterback, in my opinion. I think sometimes he gets flack because his leadership is the first thing everyone brings up. Well leadership’s kind of a big deal when it comes to football. And if you don’t have guys that lead the right way and lead by example, and also lead with their voice, especially at the quarterback position, I don’t think you have the best shot at winning.”
Said fullback Kyle Juszczyk: “We spent the offseasons together working with one another so Jimmy is a huge part of this. I know he’s handling a lot of criticism right now, a lot of speculation and all that sort of thing but I think Jimmy knows how we feel about him in the locker room. I think a lot of us have come up here and expressed that publicly but he also feels that from us personally in just how we interact with him day to day. We all love Jimmy here and we have 100 percent support for him.”
Of course, as much as the 49ers want to talk about culture and locker room fit, ultimately the decision will come down to whichever quarterback gives the team the best chance at returning to the Super Bowl in 2021. For now, Garoppolo is the leader in the clubhouse. He helped them get there in 2019 and, according to Shanahan and his teammates, he can do it again.
But as we’ve seen before, Shanahan and Lynch can let things materialize before making their biggest moves of each offseason. And the fact they haven’t reworked Garoppolo’s contract leaves the possibility on the table.
