ESPN seems to believe that there will be a significant market for San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. The sports entity recently held a fascinating exercise utilizing several of its contributors. ESPN wanted to predict the offseason moves when it comes to starting quarterbacks.
The exercise involved asking ESPN reporters to represent the general managers for the respective teams they cover. The stand-in GMs submitted offers for names like Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, and Garoppolo. Then, it was up to the reporter (or stand-in GM) for the quarterback's team to look over the offers and pick which worked best for their respective organization.
The 49ers, represented by team reporter Nick Wagoner, received four offers in this exercise. They came from those representing the Carolina Panthers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Washington Commanders.
Below are the offers for Garoppolo. Which one would you have chosen?
- Panthers: 2022 fourth-rounder and 2023 second-rounder
- Steelers: 2022 third-rounder, 2023 sixth-rounder, and half of Garoppolo's salary
- Buccaneers: 2022 second-rounder
- Commanders: 2022 third-rounder and 2023 fourth-rounder
It's worth noting that neither Rodgers nor Wilson is dealt in the exercise, with their respective teams holding onto their franchise quarterbacks. To the 49ers' benefit, that shrinks the quarterback market.
Garoppolo is more likely to be dealt. The 49ers already have his replacement ready to go.
Which offer did Wagoner select while playing the role of general manager John Lynch? He went with the Buccaneers' offer, admitting that finding the right match was challenging. In the end, Wagoner recouped the second-round pick traded away to acquire Garoppolo in 2017. He had hoped for an added mid-to-late-round pick in 2023 to the deal but decided that the 2022 second-round pick made more sense than the packages others were willing to offer.
"But this is a fair deal for both sides," wrote Wagoner, "as we clear the decks for Trey Lance, who spent the year learning from Garoppolo and bolstered his stock with the team for how he handled everything and improved as the year went on. Lance will be our starter for 2022."
Jenna Laine, representing the Buccaneers, discussed the aftermath of the potential trade.
"Garoppolo's cap hit would be a challenge for the Bucs, who only have about $20 million in salary-cap space at this time," wrote Laine. "But Tampa Bay could convert about $23.2 million of Garoppolo's deal to a signing bonus, which would drop the cap number to $5.9 million."