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Last week, John Lynch offered a vote of confidence in his quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo. But it came after the general manager admitted that the San Francisco 49ers were scouting college quarterbacks.
To many, the comments didn't mean much. Lynch says the 49ers always scout quarterbacks each year. One good fit for head coach Kyle Shanahan might be BYU's Zach Wilson. So, of course, VP of player personnel Adam Peters traveling to watch BYU made headlines.
"Here's what I know about Jimmy Garoppolo, and I think I've been consistent,"
Lynch said last week during a KNBR interview. "We're a better football team when he's out there. We win a lot of games when he's out there. We struggle to win without him. ... We have a lot of belief in Jimmy."
NFL insider Ian Rapoport doesn't want to read too much into Lynch's comments. He believes Garoppolo is the 49ers quarterback ... until something better comes along. But the same can be said of any player in the NFL.
Rapoport didn't see Lynch's comments as being a particularly strong defense of his quarterback. Will Garoppolo be with the 49ers next season? No one seems to know.
"I didn't find it to be a vigorous defense," Rapoport said Monday on KNBR's
Murph & Mac show. "A vigorous defense is, 'He's my quarterback. Stop asking.' But in reality, everybody likes Jimmy. I don't think that's a question.
"I think it's more of the 49ers don't know with certainty right now what the answer is. They don't know where they're going to draft. They don't know who's going to be available in free agency. I mean, I think they have some ideas, but they don't know for sure.
"You can't possibly say, yes, Jimmy Garoppolo is going to be my best option at quarterback right now. You can't say that."
One thing Rapoport likes about Lynch is how open he typically is with the media. Of course, if there is a strategic advantage to misleading the media or withholding information, he's been known to do so. But for the most part, Lynch is very forthcoming with information and the team's line of thinking.
"And there's no crime in saying, 'Jimmy Garoppolo is our quarterback unless we get a better option,'" Rapoport continued. "That's most of what life is about. Like, all of us are employed and make the salaries we make until they can find someone better and cheaper. And then we won't, right? Isn't that what life is about?"
Where does that leave the 49ers?
Garoppolo is their quarterback ... until he's not. Maybe a change takes place during the upcoming offseason.
"I think the 49ers are in the same situation where it's really a tossup to me if Jimmy Garoppolo is the 49ers' quarterback next year," Rapoport added. "But I know they're going to be looking to improve, and could they find someone better in the draft or free agency? Yeah. They may."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Rapoport below.
The San Francisco 49ers plan to keep the band together for a long time. The team announced that it has agreed to multi-year contract extensions with head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch.
Details of the contracts are currently unknown. Before the new deals, Shanahan had been signed through the 2025 season, while Lynch was locked up through the 2024 season. They will now remain with the team longer than that.
The 49ers Communications staff provided the following rundown.
The duo joined the 49ers in February of 2017 and have since led the organization to the postseason three times, claimed two NFC West division titles (2019 & 2022), reached three NFC Championship games (2019 & 2021-22) and a trip to Super Bowl
Don't get your hopes up if you were waiting for the San Francisco 49ers to make a splashy mid-season move. The team restructured the contracts of tight end George Kittle, tackle Trent Williams, and defensive tackle Arik Armstead ahead of the season and now owns a league-leading $42.6 million in salary-cap space.
The team with the next highest amount of space is the Cleveland Browns with $34.4 million, and then the Arizona Cardinals with $14.2 million, per OverTheCap.com.
The Niners' money is earmarked for the future, though. There are no plans to bolster the already talented roster this season, short of something unexpected happening.
"We've pretty much done what we're going to do this year," general manager
This week's focus remains on San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. The team has a short week to prepare for its next opponent—the New York Giants on Thursday night at Levi's Stadium. The matchup comes just four days after the Niners' 30-23 win over the Los Angeles Rams.
Aiyuk suffered a shoulder injury on his first catch, a 13-yard reception during San Francisco's opening drive. He was in and out of the lineup throughout the game and was limited during the 49ers' light Tuesday practice.
On Tuesday, head coach Kyle Shanahan said that the decision will come down to how Aiyuk feels and the evaluation from the training staff. It sounds like the receiver may end up being a
Nick Bosa played 56 percent of the defensive snaps in Week 1 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year did not reach Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett in the game.
On Sunday, the San Francisco 49ers pass rusher played 79 percent of the defensive snaps, again being held without a sack as Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford quickly got the football out of his hands.
Bosa held out for six weeks as he awaited a contract extension, which didn't come until just days before Week 1. The defensive end missed all of training camp and the preseason. Has the absence contributed to a lack of productivity?
"I've always said, I don't care who you are, you need to get your football legs underneath you," general manager
