San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York, at the NFL owners meetings in Palm Beach, Florida, weighed in on his team's quarterback situation. Jimmy Garoppolo has been the starter for the past four-and-a-half seasons. Most expect last year's No. 3 overall pick, Trey Lance, to take on that role in 2022.
Garoppolo is still on the roster, though.
It seems that is seen as a problem to everyone but the 49ers. Team decision-makers John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan continue to express that no one inside the organization is panicking about the 49ers' current predicament.
San Francisco would like to trade Garoppolo but can't. No one wants him right now. Much of that is due to his recent shoulder surgery. Garoppolo can't even throw again until early July. There is no stampede of teams looking to commit draft capital to acquire a high-priced injured quarterback.
Garoppolo's track record with injuries doesn't help either. He has started one full season in his career.
York, however, has complete faith in the general manager and head coach duo he has entrusted with running the team. Lynch and Shanahan have produced, after all. After taking over a talent-deprived roster, the 49ers have been to two NFC Championship games and a Super Bowl over the past three seasons. While some fans will undervalue that accomplishment, saying anything short of a sixth championship is a failure, the truth is that San Francisco is in a much better situation than the majority of the NFL.
Lynch and Shanahan, also speaking at the NFL owners meetings, said that Garoppolo and Lance once again being on the roster is not unthinkable. It may not be the most desirable outcome for this offseason, but there are worse situations than having two starting-caliber quarterbacks in whom you believe.
Apparently, York, who signs off on financial decisions like paying a player who may not play over $25 million, would be fine with investing that much in one position.
"I'm not the coach. I'm not the general manager," York said via Nick Wagoner of ESPN. "They have my authority to put the roster together as they see fit. If that's what it is, then as long as we're competing and we're winning football games, they have the ability to do what they think is best to help us win. We've made trades and we've had guys that are making a lot of money who haven't been on the field."
Dee Ford, anyone?
Still, it's a lot of money to invest in a player you would rather get rid of but can't. And what does your locker room think if you declare Lance the starter, but Garoppolo remains, earning three times as much money?
"If we think it's the best decision to have two guys that we think are very, very capable of winning football games and giving us a chance to win the Super Bowl, there's no position it's more important than that in all of sports," York continued. "So, if we're going to overinvest in something, I'd rather overinvest in the quarterback position than anything else."
None of those comments are definitive proof that Garoppolo will be on the roster come Week 1 of the 2022 season. The 49ers are saying the right things, making sure not to further plummet Garoppolo's trade value by saying he's not capable of beating out a second-year quarterback.
There is no doubt the 49ers will continue to try to trade Garoppolo. However, if nothing comes of that, at least they aren't burning any bridges.