NFL executive turned analyst Mike Tannenbaum thinks the San Francisco 49ers should pump the brakes on the Jimmy Garoppolo trade talks. While most assume the veteran quarterback won't be on Kyle Shanahan's roster come Week 1 of the 2022 season, Tannenbaum believes parting ways with Garoppolo would be a costly misstep.
"Right now, when you look around the landscape of the league, there's probably at least a dozen teams that need quarterbacks," Tannenbaum said Thursday on ESPN's Get Up (h/t Chris Rosvoglou of The Spun). "And there's just not enough of them. And Greeny (host Mike Greenberg), we'll be sitting here maybe three or four weeks from now saying, 'I can't believe quarterback X or Mitch Trubisky got this.' And If I am the 49ers, I am not trading Jimmy G under any circumstances."
.@RealTannenbaum's takeaway from the NFL Combine so far:
"If I am the 49ers, I am NOT trading Jimmy G under any circumstances!" pic.twitter.com/WA2WkbhRM2
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) March 3, 2022
The argument is that the 49ers win more with Garoppolo than without him. That is true. Shanahan is 31-14 with Garoppolo as his starting quarterback. He is 8-28 without Garoppolo.
"In the last two of the three seasons, you've been to a Super Bowl, [two] NFC Championship Game[s], one play away from getting back there this year," Tannenbaum continued. "Why would you move on from him? It's a 17-game season. You saw so many teams lose quarterbacks.
"I am not trading Jimmy G. [R]un it back. Let Trey Lance come along. Maybe he beats him out. Why not operate from a position of strength and not weakness?"
General manager John Lynch has not dismissed the possibility of holding onto Garoppolo for one more season. He feels the 49ers could manage to do so when it comes to the salary cap.
"If we have the two of them again, and let them go compete, then we're happy to do that as well," Lynch told NBC Sports Bay Area. "And we're capable of doing that with our cap."
Lynch admits that keeping Garoppolo will limit how aggressive the 49ers can be this offseason, but the team has budgeted for multiple scenarios.
Lynch added, "The bottom line is, whatever that combination is, we want to be a better football team, or give ourselves an opportunity to be a better football team, going into next year."