Getty Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the San Francisco 49ers reacts to winning the NFC Divisional Round Playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings at Levi's Stadium on January 11, 2020 in Santa Clara, California. The San Francisco 49ers won 27-10.
Jimmy Garoppolo is set to leave the San Francisco 49ers, and one team insider thinks that could be happening much sooner than fans may realize.
No matter what, San Francisco is set for an active offseason. The futures of stars like wide receiver Deebo Samuel and defensive end Nick Bosa need to be determined with contracts, there are free agents like offensive linemen Daniel Brunskill and Laken Tomlinson to address, plus whatever other moves the Niners want to make.
All of those things cost cap space, which San Francisco doesn’t have a lot of. In fact, Spotrac says the team only has $2.95 million to work with as of this article. Getting Garoppolo off the books would free up $25.55 million, which would go a long way to making those other moves happen.
The Athletic reporter Tim Kawakami believes that context means San Francisco will have the deal completed by the end of February. Nothing official can happen until March 16, but the 49ers insider guessed the team’s deal will be reported within the week.
“But I believe the 49ers and Garoppolo both are interested in clearing the decks relatively quickly,” Kawakami wrote. “Lynch and Shanahan will want maximum value for Garoppolo, which might extend trade negotiations, but I think they’re aware a bidding war is unlikely; they have to understand that an extra delay could make it seem like they’re hesitant to fully anoint [quarterback Trey] Lance.”
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49ers Doing Right by Garoppolo
Kawakami pointed out that part of the 49ers push to move quickly is that they “want to do right by” Jimmy G. The 30-year-old quarterback isn’t leaving on bad terms, and that means getting him somewhere he wants to be.
Further, there’s precedent for a February deal, as Kawakami highlighted the situation with Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick in 2013.
“The 49ers want to do right by Garoppolo and that means sending him somewhere he wants to go and not taking so long that all of the good spots are already taken,” Kawakami wrote. “When the 49ers traded Alex Smith to the Chiefs in the 2013 offseason, after Colin Kaepernick took the team to the previous Super Bowl, they agreed to the deal in late February. Back then, the 49ers wanted to do right by Smith, and they wanted zero confusion about Kaepernick as their starter.”
It’s almost uncanny how the specifics of that trade situation parallel the current landscape in San Francisco. Being able to trade valuable quarterbacks is never a bad position to be in, and the 49ers find themselves in the position to benefit from that once again.
Jimmy G Working With 49ers
When Garoppolo spoke to the media on February 1 after the Niners’ 20-17 loss in the NFC Championship game, he revealed that he and general manager John Lynch are working together on his future.
Considering many trades or NFL departures aren’t always on good terms, it was encouraging for fans to see Jimmy G seem at least content about what comes next.
“I was talking to John [Lynch] the other day about finding the right destination,” Garoppolo said in the “farewell” press conference. “I just want to go with a place where they want to win.”
That’s a simple and fair request from the quarterback. Now, it’s on San Francisco to get it done and move on to the next steps of the offseason.