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John Lynch appreciates the way Jimmy Garoppolo handled the whole situation. It wasn't easy for the quarterback to learn that the San Francisco 49ers planned to draft his eventual replacement. Some would simply ask to be traded. After all, why stick around where you aren't wanted?
But that wasn't the case for Garoppolo. The 49ers still wanted to keep him for at least the upcoming season. General manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan went to owner Jed York and laid out their plan to trade up in the draft to select a quarterback but asked to keep Garoppolo, too.
Normally, such a personnel decision would fall solely on them, but in this case, Garoppolo's massive salary prompted the duo to make sure it had ownership's blessing. After all, the quarterback is due to earn $24.1 million this season.
York was fine with the plan because he understood that it meant a better chance of winning now and drafting to win for the future, too.
"When it initially happened, there's a million emotions that go on throughout your head, and you think of all the possible scenarios and things like that," Garoppolo told reporters on Tuesday. "But at the end of the day, I want to play football. I want to go out there and win games. That's what I do.
"It wasn't anything too crazy. It took a little while to process everything. But once I did, it was just go out there and ball. You've just got to attack it."
Now, San Francisco has two quarterbacks it feels can win football games. If Lance pans out, the team's championship window extends well beyond the next couple of years.
Lynch recalls what he thought was going to be a difficult discussion with his veteran quarterback, informing him of the offseason plan.
"I remember, when I first kind of went to [Garoppolo], and talked about this concept," Lynch said on the
Cris Collinsworth Podcast. "The first thing he said (was), 'John, will I have a chance to compete?' I said, 'Of course you will. We're going to play the guy who gives us the best chance. Yeah, you'll have a chance to compete.'
"Well, that's all he wanted. He's been so professional. I think it helps to be raised in New England where you're just kind of taught you do your job and things kind of take care of themselves. Jimmy very much has that perspective, and I think it's served him well and served us well in this situation. He's handled it just as well as you possibly could."
Garoppolo remembers learning from
Tom Brady in New England, despite his presence being a constant reminder that he was there to eventually replace Brady. Now, it will be Garoppolo's turn to mentor Lance, who has his own NFL aspirations.
The veteran quarterback will do what he can to help the rookie. But make no mistake, he plans to compete as best he can.
Garoppolo added: "The NFL is a crazy business. Things happen, but you've just got to attack it day-by-day and make the best of it."
You can listen to the conversation with Lynch below.
As customary, NFL teams engage in preliminary discussions about potential draft trades during owner meetings. The San Francisco 49ers currently hold the No. 31 spot in the first round but appear receptive to moving either up or down. The 2024 NFL Draft kicks off on Thursday night.
General manager John Lynch addressed reporters on Monday and acknowledged the wide range of possibilities. However, he noted that any potential discussions about trading spots with other teams will likely intensify later in the week.
"It's going to be an interesting year," Lynch stated. "I think it's an interesting draft class. I was just looking at my notes and one interesting thing to me, dynamic, and the way of the world right now, we put a grade on players in the fall if we think
San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch spoke with reporters as the team prepares for the 2024 NFL Draft. Quarterback Brock Purdy also addressed the media. Here is everything they had to say.
Transcripts provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
General Manager John Lynch
Opening comments:
"This to me, there's nothing like watching our guys compete on Sundays or Thursdays or Mondays. We play a lot of different days now, but nothing like watching our guys compete. But to me, this is really my favorite time of year as an organization because I think it represents our organization coming together and working for a common goal as much as anything we do. When you look at the guys I call our
We are less than one week away from the NFL Draft, and the San Francisco 49ers have their first day-one draft pick since 2021. That was the year they selected QB Trey Lance number three overall. The trade-up to get Lance cost the 49ers their first-round picks in 2022 and 2023. And now that they are back in the first round, at pick 31, fans are anxious to see what the team does with the pick. And with former assistant GM, Adam Peters, now in Washington, it will be interesting to see how well the 49ers draft without Peters in the room.
We looked back at the seven drafts GM John Lynch and Head Coach Kyle Shanahan have led to see what information we could pull from those drafts. There were plenty of hits, plenty of misses, and a few surprises along the way. The draft picks are
Rumors have swirled regarding the situation between the San Francisco 49ers and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who is entering his fifth NFL season and is slated to earn $14.124 million on a team-executed fifth-year option. Despite the 49ers publicly declaring a desire to sign Aiyuk to a contract extension, keeping him on the roster for the foreseeable future, many rumors have focused on potential trade interest.
On Monday, general manager John Lynch held his annual pre-draft press conference, addressing the Aiyuk situation without revealing any information on the conversations that have taken place behind closed doors. Once again, he emphasized that the 49ers want Aiyuk to remain with the team for the remainder of his career.
When asked if there was a chance Aiyuk
