Niners play it coy with Jimmy G
The 49ers are sticking to the message — Jimmy Garoppolo is still their No. 1 quarterback.
He’s still the plan as their starter for the 2021 season regardless if they draft a quarterback with the No. 3 pick.
That was loud and clear during a media session with general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan Monday afternoon.
“The opportunity to trade up and possibly get a guy that can be a big part of our future, and keep Jimmy, who we’re very high on … that’s kind of the plan we arrived at,” said Lynch, “and we’re very excited.”
In other words, the posturing continues. Both Lynch and Shanahan are saying what needs to be said right now.
It comes as no surprise they’re backing Jimmy G in the wake of agreeing to trade the No. 12 pick in 2021, a 2021 third-round pick, and their next two first-round picks to the Dolphins for the No. 3 overall selection.
Those type of blockbuster moves are generally reserved to pick a quarterback. And they’ll likely choose between Trey Lance, Justin Fields and Mac Jones in that No. 3 spot.
That might seem to leave Garoppolo on the outside at some point, but the Niners aren’t ready to dump him to any suitors just yet — namely the Patriots. The Niners are claiming this was just a move to strengthen the quarterback position.
“Jimmy wasn’t totally excited about it but he handled it great like he always does,” Shanahan said. “We still plan on him leading us and getting as far as we can with him.”
While it seems hard to believe the Niners are going to want to pay Garoppolo $24 million this season, with a $26 million cap hit, they claimed ownership signed off on that.
Asked if some team blew them away with an offer for Garoppolo, would they consider it?
“Yeah,” said Shanahan, “that’s accurate with every player on the team, including myself.”
So he left the door ajar, but both Shanahan and Lynch laid it on thick that their hope was to keep Garoppolo in San Francisco to be the man, while the rookie develops.
“We’re in a situation when you bring in a rookie quarterback, to me, it’s always better especially on the team that you have, if you have a veteran starter there already who you like that you’re comfortable winning with, that’s usually the direction you want to go, and not throw someone else out into the fire until they’re fully ready,” said Shanahan. “That’s the situation we’re at … right now, it’s going to be hard to find a quarterback that gives us a better chance to win than Jimmy right now, especially even a rookie in the draft.
“We have a guy in here who we know we can win with, a guy that our players love, that we love,” Shanahan added, “and we’re excited to have him this year, and we’re excited to have a hell of a quarterback right behind him.”