The San Francisco 49ers will save a lot of money by trading their starting quarterback of the past four-and-a-half seasons, Jimmy Garoppolo. That will put the offense in the hands of second-year quarterback and last year's No. 3 overall pick, Trey Lance.
Garoppolo is slated to count $26.95 million against the salary cap. However, Lance's cap hit is just $7.75 million. Transitioning from Garoppolo to Lance allows the 49ers to retain talent and improve the roster.
"There's always an advantage," John Lynch told Keiana Martin of 49ers.com last week at the NFL Scouting Combine. "I remember being a broadcaster, and Russell Wilson [was drafted] in the third round. There was a huge advantage for years. And when they had to pay Russell, some of that depth, their sixth, seventh, and eighth D-linemen weren't quite as good as before because they couldn't continue to pay. So, there certainly are some realities that come with that."
Of course, being able to afford better depth means nothing if you don't hit on that quarterback selection. Moving up to add Lance last year cost the 49ers first-round draft picks through next year and a third-rounder.
"The most important thing is that the rookie quarterback becomes a really good player because then that allows you to fully take advantage of that," Lynch said. "That's where we think we're going with Trey, and we really believe that."
Despite reaching the NFC Championship Game for the second time in three seasons, the 49ers view their 2021 campaign as a failure. The team, which knocked off two division winners in the playoffs, was just a play or two away from returning to the Super Bowl.
"And I think the theme for this offseason—you walk around here and everyone says, 'Great season,'" added Lynch. "If I really know them, I go, 'It wasn't great. It was good.' We're proud of our guys, but we expect, I expect, our culture is to expect championships. Proud of our group, the way they battled last year, but we've got to find a way to get better collectively because we have higher hopes."