Mike McGlinchey has an abundance of confidence in John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan's ability to do what is right for the San Francisco 49ers, even if that involved some tough decisions. All of the offensive tackle's teammates feel the same way. The general manager and head coach duo had a tough decision this offseason. They like quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and know they can win with him. However, he has missed 23 games over the past three seasons, prompting the 49ers to make a move for the future.
That's what they did on March 26, trading up to the No. 3 overall pick with the intention of drafting a young quarterback. That ended up being Trey Lance of North Dakota State.
"I think [drafting Lance] is a great thing for us, but I also know that they're comfortable picking Trey because we have Jimmy on our roster," McGlinchey told KNBR's Greg Papa and John Lund this afternoon. "Jimmy's a guy that's proven that he can take our team to the promised land. We were six minutes away of getting that done. And as long as he's healthy and on the field, he's a high, high-quality football player.
"And I think by having him on our team, they're comfortable picking a guy like Trey, who has unbelievable upside. But he's also a 20-year-old kid that has only played a little bit of college football ... so he's going to need some time to learn."
McGlinchey didn't make much of the offseason chatter surrounding Garoppolo, with some wondering if the 49ers might try to move the quarterback before or during the draft. Obviously, nothing came of that, and now Garoppolo and Lance are teammates.
"Jimmy's our guy, and so is Trey," McGlinchey added. "It's a pick to solidify a competition in that room, and you speak to Jimmy — I heard Jimmy's interview about it — he's excited for the opportunity to have a little competition because he's a guy that's just tough as nails. No matter how much the Bay Area and national media want to get him out of here, he's still here, and he's still our guy, and he's going to fight his ass off for us, and be the guy to take our team to the next level."
McGlinchey doesn't believe anything will change when it comes to the 49ers locker room and the team's support of Garoppolo. He's still their leader.
"Now, Trey is going to bring an interesting piece to it, and Jimmy's handled that with grace already," McGlinchey said. "That just kind of proves, even more, the type of leader that Jimmy is. No matter what happens, he's team-first, and that's what's really, really cool about having 10 as our quarterback."
You can listen to the entire conversation with McGlinchey below.