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.
