Last week, Jimmy Garoppolo said he would love to be part of a trade package that included wide receiver Deebo Samuel. The idea of playing with the do-it-all wide receiver again isn't something he initially considered, knowing the San Francisco 49ers looked to trade the veteran quarterback this offseason.
"I would do that in a heartbeat," Garoppolo said on the Stacking The Box podcast.
What if the 49ers mend their relationship with Samuel, who recently requested a trade? What if San Francisco also holds onto Garoppolo, who has remained on the roster longer than most anticipated? In this hypothetical but possible scenario, the two could remain teammates for another season.
General manager John Lynch spoke with reporters on Monday and was asked if he could envision a scenario where Garoppolo remains on the roster.
"Absolutely," Lynch responded. "I said at the owner's meetings, guys like that don't fall out of trees. He's a good player at a position where they're hard to find. And so, you certainly don't just give guys like that away, and we can, I guess, foot the bill, if you want to describe it as that. And so, we'll be patient with that one."
Lynch was asked the same thing about Samuel. Does the general manager believe the two sides can come to terms and move forward together—at least for 2022?
"Of course," Lynch responded.
For now, Garoppolo and his hefty salary remain on the roster. Although, that hasn't necessarily been a roadblock in the 49ers' ability to sign Samuel to an extension. There appear to be other undisclosed factors at play in that situation. However, the overall perception is that Garoppolo's salary-cap hit has prevented the 49ers from having a more active offseason, and, as a result, their efforts to improve have been subpar.
The 49ers general manager does not subscribe to that line of thought.
"I think that's the noise that's out there," Lynch said. "We feel really good about our offseason. We took a hard look at our roster and said, 'Where do we need to be better?' And we think we've addressed those areas.
"I think a common theme was we wanted to be better, holistically, on special teams, but we never just want to have special teams players. We want guys that are fits into our offense or defense."
Lynch noted the additions of wide receiver and returner Ray-Ray McCloud, linebacker Oren Burks, safety George Odum, and defensive lineman Kemoko Turay as examples. While none may be splashy names, the 49ers feel they will be able to contribute and improve the team as a whole.
San Francisco's biggest offseason addition was undoubtedly cornerback Charvarius Ward. It was a position that needed another starter, so the 49ers paid big money for a player in whom they believed.
"Charvarius Ward, that was our number one goal to add a top-flight corner that can match up with the top receivers in this league. And man, I can't tell you how excited we are about Charvarius. ... I think a lot of people see that correlation between the money that Jimmy is due and that is somehow prohibiting us from doing what we wanted to do. That wasn't the case.
"We had a plan. We've been very aggressive—top five, top ten team in terms of cash. And we've had the pedal down for five years. It was time to probably, on the whole, take a step back in terms of the amount of cash and cap we were spending. And so that was planned all along. And still, I think despite those kinds of challenges we were able to have, what I believe, is a really productive offseason."
While Lynch believes "there's not a ton of holes" in the roster he has helped build, not everyone feels that way. The team could certainly use some depth at key spots, like the interior of the offensive line, the defensive backfield, and adding a pass rusher to pair with Nick Bosa. Wide receiver becomes a significant need if the rift with Samuel remains. Those are areas that could be addressed in the draft.
