Getty San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo warming up ahead of the NFC Championship game.
The New York Jets continue to pump out the narrative that they plan on being aggressive this offseason to fill their needs.
Coming off of a 4-13 season, there are plenty of areas that deserve Gang Green’s immediate attention.
I’m not so sure that includes the quarterback position, but one insider believes the team could make a big trade this offseason.
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An Interesting Plan of Attack
The San Francisco 49ers were just eliminated from the playoffs after losing 20-17 to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship game.
The end of their season will also coincide with the end of an era.
49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo admitted as much during his open availability with the media:
“It’s been a hell of a ride. I was talking to John Lynch yesterday about finding the right destination and whatever the future holds, just doing it the right way,” Garoppolo said via ESPN. “I’ve got a long career ahead of me. I’m excited about it. I’m excited about the opportunities to come. I just want to go to a place where they want to win. That’s really what I’m in this game for. I’m here to play football, win football games and as long as I’ve got that and good people around me, I think the rest will take care of itself.”
With Garoppolo likely playing elsewhere in 2022, people have begun to speculate where he could possibly land.
Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports came up with a list of teams that could make sense and surprisingly he listed the Jets among the favorites:
“No, they’re not ready to give up on Zach Wilson, but GM Joe Douglas should know the value of a good veteran backup plan after 2021. Coach Robert Saleh is familiar with Garoppolo from San Francisco, as is offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur, who was the 49ers’ passing game coordinator from 2017-2020. Call it a Ryan Tannehill-style play for an emergency option.”
The 30-year-old quarterback has one more year left on his deal through next season at a near $27 million cap hit. It is the final leg of the original five-year $137 million contract he signed back in 2018.
He has put up solid numbers throughout his eight-year playing career with 11,852 passings yards, and 71 touchdowns versus 38 interceptions.
Although the most impressive part of his run has been based on team success. Garoppolo has been the starting quarterback for two deep 49ers playoff runs. One took them to the brink of winning a Super Bowl and the other brought them to the doorstep in the NFC title game.
That Doesn’t Jive
Do the Jets need a backup quarterback? Yes, because Zach Wilson is the only quarterback currently under contract heading into 2022. Are there a lot of current connections between the Jets and the 49ers organizations? Also yes.
Will this deal happen? Extremely unlikely.
This just doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. Garoppolo wants to start and by moving from the west coast to the east coast he’d be dealing with the same exact problem.
As soon as the 49ers officially selected Trey Lance with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft, Garoppolo was on borrowed time. While he lasted through the length of this season, Garoppolo knows that Lance is the future.
So now he wants to go to a new situation where he can start and play winning football. That just isn’t going to happen with the Jets at this stage of his career. It would be nothing more than a distraction for a young developing quarterback.
In addition to that, his cap number is way too high at nearly $27 million, the benefit of having a young quarterback like Wilson is his cheap contract. That provides a unique window for a team to pile money in other places before you have to pay your quarterback.
One last reason it doesn’t fit is the trade aspect. The 49ers aren’t going to give Garoppolo away, they are going to want to be rightfully compensated.
Why would the Jets trade a valuable resource and pay a ridiculous amount of moolah? They have Wilson and they believe in him and his development.
Those assets would be better allocated trying to build a winning product around the former BYU stud as opposed to trying to bring a different quarterback into the picture.
There is no doubt the Jets will be bringing in a backup quarterback this offseason, but don’t bet on it being Garoppolo.
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