Maybe Jimmy Garoppolo will be the San Francisco 49ers quarterback next season. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said on Tuesday that he expects that to be the case.
"I expect Jimmy to be our starter next year," Shanahan told reporters. "I mean, I expect him to come play with us this year (after he recovers from his ankle injury). We have six games left. We are not out of the playoffs yet. I've been on a team that was 3-6 going into a bye week that ended up winning their division.
"I think we have guys on this team capable of finishing this the right way. We've got to do it one game at a time, and I hope Jimmy can come back and be a part of that. But to think that we've made any decisions on anybody going into the future isn't the case."
There is another factor to consider. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reports that the 49ers can't trade Garoppolo without his permission until March of 2022. That's because the quarterback has a no-trade clause in his contract for the 2021 league year.
Worth mentioning: 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo has a no-trade clause for the 2021 League Year only. That means the Niners can't trade him w/o his consent between now and March 2022. Kyle Shanahan said yesterday he expects Garoppolo to be his starter in '21.
Here's the language ... pic.twitter.com/SgJpVA6qRX
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) November 18, 2020
H/t to Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports for the find.
Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean San Francisco won't trade Garoppolo before or during next season. The quarterback would need to approve any move, though. The team could also release the quarterback outright without much of a salary-cap impact, should it choose to move in another direction.
Garoppolo is scheduled to earn base salaries totaling $48.3 million over the next two seasons and count around $27 million against the salary cap each year. After this season, the quarterback has two years remaining on the five-year, $137.5 million deal he signed in 2018.