Any concerns of possible tension in the 49ers’ quarterback room between Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo can be quelled at least for now. Early in training camp both quarterbacks have denied the idea of awkwardness between them, and Lance went as far as to call Garoppolo one of the best people he’s been around.
“Nah, there’s no awkwardness at all,” Lance told reporters after Thursday’s practice. “We’re good friends. We got to spend a lot more time together now and definitely looking forward to continue learning as much as I can from him. He’s just, like I said earlier, one of the best people I’ve ever been around on and off the field. So, just super excited to learn this year as much as I can from him.”
This jibes with what Garoppolo told reporters during his Wednesday press conference. After making a tongue-in-cheek joke dismissing the idea that there might be tension between them, the veteran explained the positive interactions he’s had with the rookie.
“We’ve had a good relationship. We really have,” Garoppolo said. “It’s a, it’s sort of one of those things. It is what it is. This business is weird, but you know, at the end of the we’re in that locker room, we’re around each other so much that, you know, it’s just business.”
Chances are the inherent nature of their relationship will ever keep them from being great pals, but Garoppolo’s been through this before as a second-round pick under Tom Brady in 2014. He was in that situation for three-plus years before getting traded to San Francisco.
While Garoppolo wasn’t happy with the trade up according to head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch, he still has plenty of reason to keep the relationship between him and Lance relatively warm without rocking the boat too much.
Creating havoc on his way out wouldn’t make other clubs necessarily eager to acquire him next offseason should the 49ers make him a free agent. On the other hand, if he plays well and keeps a good relationship with the organization, they may be willing to play ball in a trade scenario and other clubs may be more willing to give him a contract on par with the one he’s carrying into 2021.
It’s easy to play nice out of the gate though. The two players haven’t spent a ton of time around each other and Garoppolo is still the clear QB1. The true test will come if the gap between the two players closes, or if Garoppolo struggles and a couple losses pile up. The Garoppolo-Lance relationship was always going to be at least a little bit tricky to navigate, but for now everything seems to be running smooth in the 49ers’ quarterback room.
