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Former San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman, now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, showed his former quarterback some love on Sunday during the Niners' playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys.
Garoppolo has been delivering some gutsy performances, playing through the pain of a torn ligament and chipped bone in his right thumb. He will
likely require offseason surgery. But, for now, the veteran quarterback is toughing it out.
Garoppolo isn't playing mistake-free football, though. He has thrown three interceptions in his last two games, including what could have been a disastrous pick in the 23-17 victory against the Cowboys. That, paired with the injury, has made many wonder if Garoppolo's trade stock has plummeted.
The 49ers will likely transition to Trey Lance this offseason. The team surrendered a haul of future draft capital to select the quarterback with the No. 3 overall pick last April. With Garoppolo set to earn a base salary of $24.2 million in 2022, San Francisco may look to part ways with the polarizing player.
"The end of the regular season was a moment," Ian Rapoport said Monday morning on KNBR's
Murph & Mac show. "I thought that was great. But I don't know that there's been questions of, 'How good is [Garoppolo]? Is he any good? Can he complete the throws when he needs to?' I haven't really gotten the sense that's a question. I think if you like Jimmy Garoppolo, and there are definitely teams that do, you kind of know what he is.
"If he played all 17 games, then he would be, to me, somewhere between the eighth- or ninth-best quarterback and the 15th best quarterback—something like that. So, if you trade for him, you're getting a pretty good starter. You can quibble which side of that he is on."
The 49ers are without a first-round pick in the next two drafts. They also surrendered a third-round pick this year in the trade to select Lance. The team would obviously like to recoup some of its draft capital in exchange for Garoppolo.
Rapoport believes there will be a good market for the veteran quarterback. That may only improve if the 49ers keep winning. After all, Garoppolo is 33-14 as a starter, now 37-15 counting the postseason.
"I like him, teams like him, [he's a] pretty good starter," Rapoport continued. "It's really just been about availability. I would say he's probably proven as much by playing right now with his hand that's going to need surgery, as opposed to any other thing. I think his market's going to be good. I think he's a legit starting quarterback.
"They came into this season thinking that they had a playoff roster, wanting to run it back with [their veteran] quarterback, and then figure it out after the season, hope his trade value is high. It's actually all working out. I mean, it looks like it has. The plan has been perfect, and execution has been great, so I think they're in a very, very good spot to get probably a significant haul for him."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Rapoport below.
Brandon Aiyuk has been clear about his desire to receive fair compensation from the San Francisco 49ers—or any NFL team, for that matter.
"I'm trying to get what I deserve," Aiyuk said last month on a podcast. "I feel like this season, this season playing football, I figured out who I was as a person and a player — what I bring to the table, what I bring to the locker room, what I bring to the organization."
General manager John Lynch affirms that the 49ers aim to keep Aiyuk around, enduring he remains with the team for the remainder of his career. However, a recent report states there's
Ian Rapoport didn't offer much of an update on the ongoing contract negotiations between the San Francisco 49ers and their standout wide receiver, Brandon Aiyuk. However, the NFL insider emphasized one thing: The team is not entertaining trade discussions at this juncture.
Reacting to Aiyuk's decision to unfollow the 49ers on Instagram, Rapoport couldn't help but chuckle at the latest development. This practice has become commonplace among players who are unhappy with their contract situations. Wide receiver Deebo Samuel similarly took this action in 2022 before requesting to be traded just before the draft.
Things have yet to escalate that far with Aiyuk, but Rapoport sees his
If the San Francisco 49ers decide to trade wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, it's likely to occur within the next four days—before or during Day 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft. Despite some unconfirmed rumors, there has been no concrete indication that a trade is imminent. Previously, the 49ers had expressed a desire to retain Aiyuk for the foreseeable future.
Aiyuk's agent, Ryan Williams, has swiftly refuted rumors, including one alleging that the receiver had requested a trade, claiming that the Pittsburgh Steelers were "aggressively pursuing" the receiver.
While no official trade request
A questionable rumor surfaced on Wednesday regarding the Pittsburgh Steelers' interest in San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. Sports Illustrated contributor Noah Strackbein reported that the AFC team was seemingly confident they could pull off a trade for Aiyuk.
However, the credibility of this report comes into question due to the assertion that the Steelers believe they could acquire Aiyuk at a bargain price, possibly in exchange for a second-round draft pick and a late-round selection.
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