Michael Renner of Pro Football Focus went through the NFL and identified each team's biggest need heading into the offseason. There were probably many choices for the San Francisco 49ers. With much of the roster scheduled to hit free agency, the defending NFC champions could use a lot of help. Maybe some upgrades along the offensive line, a new slot receiver, another edge rusher, a safety. They don't even have a cornerback signed headed into the offseason.
Renner went in another direction, though — the position likely to dominate the offseason headlines despite all of the team's needs. The 49ers need to address the quarterback position. Yes, Jimmy Garoppolo led the team to a Super Bowl appearance last season. He has also missed 20 games over the past three seasons.
"Jimmy G was far too much of a roller coaster this past year," wrote Renner, "with some dreadful performances, and he has had too many health issues over the past few seasons to feel good about relying on him to lead a Super Bowl-caliber roster in 2021. They can get out of his $26.9 million cap hit with only $2.8 million in dead money; they could either use that cap space elsewhere or find another quarterback altogether."
The flip side is that Kyle Shanahan is 22-8 with Garoppolo leading the offense, and we've seen that the answer to replacing the quarterback isn't currently on the roster. That means finding someone who can be plugged in, run Shanahan's offense, and manage the unit as Garoppolo has done. Or, it means hitting the reset button on the position, drafting a young signal-caller, and riding through the learning-curve bumps and bruises.
Maybe the 49ers find a way to convince Garoppolo to lower his salary-cap hit and draft a quarterback of the future. Regardless of what Shanahan chooses, there won't be a shortage of quarterback talk during the offseason.
The bad news is that Renner listed quarterback as the biggest need for six other teams, so there will be some competition to address the position.