After months of playing coy, 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is finally admitting the truth:
This will be his last season with the 49ers.
He’s known it, his teammates have known it, and his bosses made the decision long ago — the 49ers will be Trey Lance’s team in 2022 and when this season ends, after which the 49ers will endeavor to trade Garoppolo, who has a 34-15 record as San Francisco’s starter over the last five seasons.
“It’s always in the back of your mind. It has been in mine, you know, really this whole season,” Garoppolo said of the looming changes. “I knew what type of season it was, knew everything that was going on behind the scenes and whatnot. So it was a little different. But, at the same time, it’s like you’re saying you’ve got to toe that line because you don’t want to get too emotional in those [big] moments.”
Well, the moment doesn’t get any bigger than San Francisco’s Divisional Round matchup with the Green Bay Packers Saturday in Wisconsin.
And whether Garoppolo picks up that 35th win or 16th loss will tell us so much about his future in this league.
Whether Garoppolo has been a critical part of the Niners’ playoff run or merely a beneficiary of the overall roster’s success is a debate that will rage on well after Garoppolo exits our Bay Area.
Either way, there will be interest in a quarterback who has won as often as he has and who has handled a lame-duck season with aplomb.
If Garoppolo and the 49ers go to the NFC Championship Game — or beyond — for the second time in as many “healthy” seasons for the quarterback in San Francisco, he could land himself a guaranteed starting job for another team in this league.
The Niners are all for that. The better Garoppolo does, the better the team does, both on and off the field.
San Francisco’s braintrust has done everything in its power to try to maximize the return for Garoppolo in a trade this upcoming offseason. Their goal — and they did little to hide it throughout the season — is to recoup as much of the draft capital they lost in acquiring Lance as possible.
Now, let’s be clear about this: Nothing short of winning the Super Bowl will force the 49ers to change their plans at quarterback. At the very least, rookie quarterback Trey Lance was acquired to re-set the Niners’ salary cap. Garoppolo’s contract took 13.4 percent of the cap last season. Lance, on his rookie deal, will count for 3.7 percent next season, going up to 4.2 percent by 2024.
For a 49ers team that wants to keep top talent — which will be asking for top dollar — the re-set was deemed necessary.
(Lance also carries some serious upside on the field, too.)
Yes, this was all part of the plan. Make the playoffs, get a nice return on Garoppolo after a successful season, and turn the team over to the kid.
It sounds so simple, but nothing about San Francisco’s season has been that.
How much is Garoppolo worth in a trade? I’ve garnered opinions from more than a dozen people around the league I trust, and the answers widely varied.
From a first-round pick to nothing at all, figuring out what Garoppolo’s value is on the open market is anything but straightforward heading into this offseason.
After a couple of confusing performances — the game against Green Bay will be used as a barometer.
The win is the most important thing, but if Garoppolo can hold his own opposite Rodgers, that interest will rocket up.
But if Garoppolo were to reprise his performance from the Tennessee game, or the first half against the Rams in Week 18, or the second half of last Sunday’s playoff game against the Cowboys, I would doubt that 49ers general manager John Lynch’s phone will be ringing off the hook come Monday.
The Niners have already decided that Garoppolo is not their quarterback of the future. But in the present, it’s all on the line — for team and player — come Saturday.