Plan is to get new QB, keep old one
Niners say they want Garoppolo to remain
Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch didn’t disguise the 49ers’ intentions Monday, only stopping short of naming which stud quarterback they’ll attempt to draft and develop this year behind incumbent (and disgruntled) starter Jimmy Garoppolo.
Trading up Friday to the No. 3 draft slot triggered their two-quarterback “equation.”
“We went to ownership and said, ‘Hey, things are looking good. We’d like to make this move, but we also don’t want to say goodbye to Jimmy,’ “Lynch, the 49ers’ general manager, said. “We’ve shown we can get to a Super Bowl with him. We can play at a high level, and we don’t think those two things have to be mutually exclusive.”
Shanahan, entering his fifth year as coach, maintains that Garoppolo offers the 49ers’ best shot at a playoff run, but his injury history prompts the need for a hot-shot apprentice.
“We’ve got a guy in here we know we can win with, a guy that our players love, that we love,” Shanahan said. “We’re excited to have him this year, and we’re excited to have a hell of a quarterback right behind him, learning for when the time’s his.”
THE GAROPPOLO DRAMA >> First up in the 49ers’ first press conference since Jan. 4 was explaining their intentions with Garoppolo and vice versa.
“I’m sure Jimmy was a little pissed off from it, just like I’d be too,” Shanahan said. “But me knowing Jimmy, he’ll be fired up and come in and work his butt off.
“The more mad Jimmy gets, usually the better he gets. So if he gets madder and stays healthy, this is going to be a good thing for Jimmy, too, which could be a great problem for the 49ers. I hope Jimmy’s alright with it and I expect him to be.”
Shanahan called Garoppolo before Friday’s news broke about the 49ers moving up from No. 12 overall to No. 3, and Lynch followed up with his own call to relay the 49ers’ intentions of keeping him in 2021.
Does Garoppolo truly “welcome” that competition, as Lynch described? Neither the 29-year-old quarterback nor his agent has commented publicly this offseason. He has two years remaining on a contract paying him roughly $25 million annually.
“A hard decision for us, too, is when you committed what we did to Jimmy, and you have a guy who’s really only played one year of football and look at his numbers, how efficient he was, and how close we got to winning a Super Bowl, he’s got a lot of untapped potential, also,” Shanahan said.
If that sounds like a sales pitch for a potential trade, Shanahan did not rule one out, quipping that even he can be had at the right offer (to which Lynch quickly vetoed such coachtrade talk).
“It’s not like we’re giving up on Jimmy because he can’t play or anything. Jimmy can play,” Shanahan added. “He only got to do it one year. We also like the person, too. We also know we can’t go through a year of what’s happened two of the last three years. (Garoppolo’s injuries cost him 23 of 48 games.) That’s something we have to protect the organization with.”
SO WHO’S THE GUY >> Shanahan sees a great quarterback crop awaiting in next month’s draft, and while he wouldn’t name any of the three leading options or his film-room favorite, he acknowledged there are “five guys kind of at this party.”
Lynch acknowledged that Trevor Lawrence is the projected No. 1 pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars, and then as for the No. 2 spot, Lynch said: “Who knows what happens with the Jets.”
Zach Wilson (BYU), Justin Fields (Ohio State), Trey Lance (North Dakota State) and Mac Jones (Alabama) all are contenders for the 49ers (and Jets).
“It’s gonna be hard to find a quarterback that gives us a better chance to win right now, especially even a rookie in the draft,” Shanahan said with a solid poker face.
Shanahan did reveal he and Lynch attended Alabama’s pro day Tuesday, in
part because Fields is willing to eventually work out separately for the 49ers after his own pro day at Ohio State on Tuesday. CHIEFS’ MODEL >> Of all the NFL’s storied quarterback competitions (or controversies, as they’re more known in 49ers land), the Kansas City Chiefs hold the most recent successful model that the 49ers will try following. Alex Smith led a playoff-bound Chiefs team in 2017 while rookie Patrick Mahomes sat that season, took over in 2018 and won the Super Bowl in his second year as a starter (against the 49ers).
“That’s a good example, the most obvious example of having a really good quarterback, drafting a young guy, having success and moving on the next year,” said Shanahan, indicating that Garoppolo would be a lame-duck in 2021.
NFL history is littered with other examples, such as Steve Young coexisting with Joe Montana for five years on the 49ers, and Aaron Rodgers biding his time behind Brett Favre in Green Bay. Not all such transitions pay off in Lombardi Trophies and the 49ers are embracing that risk.
TIMING OF THE TRADE >> Lynch said the 49ers worked the phones since early March to get a jump on a robust competition for quarterbacks.
“I felt pretty strongly we’d be left at the alter sitting at 12,” Shanahan said. “To move up to (No.) 3, we had to feel good there’d be three guys we’d feel comfortable leading our team for a long time.”
So the 49ers presented their case to 49ers ownership, including CEO Jed York and his father, John.
“We paid somewhat of a premium doing it early, and why was that important, I remember one thing Bill Walsh used to talk about a lot when I was at Stanford is that you’ve got to beat your opponent to the punch,” said Lynch, who played under Walsh at Stanford before embarking on a Pro Football Hall of Fame career as a safety.
“Might we pay a premium for that? Yeah but this was a priority for our football organization. We have great confidence for our group of players.”
After re-signing key starters (left tackle Trent Williams, fullback Kyle Juszczyk, cornerbacks Jason Verrett and K’Waun Williams), the 49ers made the trade with Miami, at the cost of three firstround picks and a thirdrounder.
“The first time I woke up with a little more clarity was when we made this trade,” Shanahan said. “It’s still not done as for where we’re going. It’s much more clear. There’s not as many dots to connect.”
• Linebacker Nathan Gerry, a former Philadelphia Eagles starter and special-teams contributor, signed a one-year deal, the 49ers announced.