Analysts Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks recorded their latest Move the Sticks podcast with Rhett Lewis and discussed the San Francisco 49ers' conundrum. Things seem to be falling apart for Kyle Shanahan's squad, which lost 43-17 to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, fell to 2-3 in the standings, and sits alone at the bottom of the NFC West.
Jeremiah took it upon himself to suggest ways to fix the 49ers' problems, focusing on the quarterback position. Jimmy Garoppolo, who returned after missing two games due to a high-ankle sprain, underwhelmed against the Dolphins. He completed just seven of his 17 attempts for 77 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. That was good enough for a 15.7 passer rating.
Lewis envisions the 49ers resting Garoppolo until he is "1,000 percent healthy," and no matter how long that takes. Brooks asked whether the marriage between the Niners and Garoppolo could come to an end.
"I don't think there's any way he can come back out there without being fully 100 percent and not worrying about that ankle at all," Lewis said. "And I don't think you can truly make a real evaluation, one day or another if you're Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch and that crew until you see that again at full strength."
It sounds like Jeremiah could envision the 49ers moving on from Garoppolo if things don't turn around soon. The analyst reminded his co-hosts that Shanahan owned a commanding lead in the Super Bowl as the offensive coordinator with the Atlanta Falcons and then lost the game. Shanahan, this time as a head coach, owned another Super Bowl lead in February. Everyone is well aware of how that turned out.
"To put all that to bed and to fix everything in the world, all you have to do is walk away from Jimmy G's contract after the year, which is not going to be much of a cap hit," Jeremiah explained. "You make the move. It's probably not going to cost you too much to make the trade for Matt Ryan, who was the quarterback of those Atlanta Falcons.
"He teams back up with Kyle Shanahan, they go on to the Super Bowl, they have a big lead, and they hold it. And then everything has been solved. It's all done. We've solved all your problems, Buck."
While Jeremiah said all of that with a straight face, it's possible some of it was said in jest. It certainly left Lewis amused. Brooks called it a "good scenario," which he didn't see coming from his podcast co-host.
The problem with that scenario, whether or not Jeremiah was serious, is that Ryan's cap hit for next season is nearly $41 million compared to Garoppolo's nearly $27 million. That coupled with possibly needing to give up draft capital likely makes such a trade extremely unrealistic for the already salary-cap-strapped 49ers, no matter what kind of money juggling they could manage.
How does DJ see everything being fixed for Kyle Shanahan & the @49ers? Find out as DJ, @BuckyBrooks & @RhettNFL give their 10 takeaways from Week 5. Make sure to tune into the @MoveTheSticks video show, which is live now! Click the link 👇
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