On Sunday morning, Adam Schefter of ESPN put out a report that the San Francisco 49ers might be willing to trade newly acquired quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo should a better option present itself. Many overanalyzed the story to the point where some compared it to the 49ers acquiring Garoppolo simply to trade him later, much like one might flip a house for profit.
To his credit, Schefter joined KNBR on Thursday and clarified what he meant in the report and explained why it was misinterpreted by many.
49ers general manager John Lynch joined KNBR's "Murph & Mac" show on Friday morning and had a chance to address the Schefter report and the ensuing rumors for the first time.
"I can tell you when that opportunity (to trade for Garoppolo) presented itself and Kyle (Shanahan) and I started talking about it, like I said from the beginning, it was about 10 minutes in that we said, 'This is a no-brainer. This is something we have to do,'" Lynch said. "Because, number one, we're huge believers in Jimmy Garoppolo and his ability to be a franchise quarterback. So much so that we inquired throughout this last offseason and was quickly shot down by Bill Belichick. But we did inquire as to his availability.
"We're huge believers in what he brings to the table and I can't speak for Adam (Schefter), but I will say, during the conversations that Kyle and I had, and then you bring Paraag (Marathe) in and you start going through all the reasons why it's a good idea. For that alone, it was a great idea for us, but at the end, as kind of a throwaway, said, 'Look, if all you're doing is acquiring a (bargaining) chip that a lot of people see as valuable, then it's a good deal for that.'
"But, I think what's clear and what needs to be communicated to our fanbase is that we have great belief and that's only been strengthened in his week that he's been here because he does some special things on the practice field and he does some special things in the meeting room.
"Is there some unknown? Yeah, he hasn't played a ton of football. We're fully aware of that but we feel, and I think a lot of people throughout this league feels like we got a tremendous deal on a guy that has all the makings of a franchise quarterback. We're thrilled to have him and that's what Jimmy Garoppolo is to us."
Lynch said he's confident that any leak to Schefter did not come from the 49ers organization. However, there was communication between Schefter and the 49ers once the report of the trade had been released.
On Sunday, Jay Glazer of FOX Sports reported the details of a call between Lynch and Belichick earlier in the offseason. Lynch has already explained that the 49ers had been quickly shot down when first asking about the availability of Garoppolo. Glazer reported that Lynch then proceeded to call back and ask Belichick about the availability of future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady.
"Belichick just said, 'What did you just ask me?" Glazer reported. "[Lynch] said, 'I'm asking if you'd trade us Tom Brady. You said Garoppolo is off-limits. [Belichick] said, 'Did you just ask me if I'd trade Tom Brady? Did you just ask if I'd trade the greatest quarterback of all-time? And John said, 'So is that a no?'"
What is Lynch's response to Glazer's report?
"Is that true? Absolutely, it's true," Lynch said. "And it happened after – I'll preface it – when I asked Bill about the availability of Jimmy Garoppolo (and) was quickly rebuffed. I kind of said it in jest but some seriousness, 'Ok, if Jimmy's not available, how about Tom?' And he kind of spit up through the phone. That's the reality of what happened."
You can listen to the entire interview with Lynch below.
