Getty Jimmy Garoppolo hands it off to Elijah Mitchell during the 49ers' 13-10 road win over the Packers.
Will the Sunday, January 30 NFC title game be the last time the San Francisco 49ers will see Jimmy Garoppolo as their quarterback?
Or will it be the Super Bowl if the 49ers surpass the Los Angeles Rams for the NFC crown? Or…will the ‘Niners, perhaps, keep Jimmy G around for 2022?
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Garoppolo’s future will be among the most scrutinized things once the NFC West rivals take the field with the NFC title on the line at SoFi Stadium. Most pundits and 49er fans believe that the Trey Lance era will eventually launch in 2022.
But are there those who believe that, maybe, the 49ers front office can actually keep the 30-year-old quarterback around?
Through the constant criticism he’s faced and the high number of fans who are eager to see Garoppolo go elsewhere, there’s one NFL analyst who offered a different angle on the situation.
What One Analyst Suggests
On Heavy’s I’m Just Saying show hosted by Brian Mazique released on Wednesday, January 26, Heavy on Buccaneers writer Matthew Davis offered this suggestion to the 49ers: Keep Garoppolo.
“I’m going to go with a different angle here. I know Jimmy G is expensive but he is a competent quarterback,” Davis explained.
Then, Davis brought up this dilemma that could blow up in the face of the 49ers: Attempting to find the right deal to send away a signal-caller who is set to make $24.2 million in 2022 and still has one more year left of the five-year, $137.5 million deal he signed back in 2018.
“If they can’t get the right deal this offseason, they have to keep him because they can get something for him,” Davis said. “This is his second NFC championship game in three years. He has one more year left on his deal and I’d be okay with keeping him for now and let him walk in free agency after that.”
But, there’s one more Davis suggestion.
“They could also hold onto him through the trade deadline next year and flip him then if they want,” Davis said.
The segment can be watched below:
Garoppolo’s Future Comparable to Past Super Bowl Winning QB
The 49ers’ future with Garoppolo is still nebulous. And flooded with trade talks — from Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network to recently, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports.
On Friday, January 28, Jones is a strong believer Garoppolo will get traded regardless if the 49ers complete their “super ending” and cap off the season with their sixth Vince Lombardi Trophy. Here’s what Jones wrote, which includes an NFL historical reference that correlates to Jimmy G’s situation:
“We’ve never seen it before. Trent Dilfer is the only Super Bowl-winning QB to be with another team the following year, and that was after the Ravens decided against re-signing him. This would be the Niners actively trading their Super Bowl-winning quarterback to another team and moving forward with 2021 No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance.”
There’s truth to that. Dilfer won the 2001 Super Bowl in his first and only season with the Baltimore Ravens. From there, he joined the Seattle Seahawks for the next four seasons before making his way to the Cleveland Browns and wrapping up his career in San Francisco.
“I still believe Garoppolo will be traded,” Jones writes. “In fact, winning out would make the likelihood of a trade even higher, as if it could go any higher than it already is.”