San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan have said they expect their veteran quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, to be healthy enough to begin throwing again in early July. According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, that timeline remains intact.
San Francisco 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo remains on schedule in his recovery from shoulder surgery and timetable for throwing, per source. The expectation has been Garoppolo will throw over next few weeks (early July, per Kyle Shanahan) and that plan is still in place.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) June 25, 2022
Once Garoppolo is healthy, the 49ers hope to resume trade talks for the quarterback. The problem is that the market of quarterback-needy teams has seemingly dried up. Those remaining could play the long game and wait to see if the 49ers opt to release Garoppolo to clear his hefty salary, despite the team saying it has no intention of doing so.
"Nothing's changed since his surgery," Shanahan told reporters in May. "You know where we were at before that, and then he got surgery, so everything went on hold. I expect him, at some time, most likely, to be traded, but who knows? That's not a guarantee, and it's been on hold [since] that happened."
The 49ers had hoped to trade Garoppolo in March. However, the quarterback underwent shoulder surgery on March 8, halting all trade talks. The quarterback-needy teams proceeded to fill their needs, leaving San Francisco with limited options. Lynch and Shanahan have repeatedly indicated that holding onto Garoppolo and his nearly $25 million base salary remains an option.
"When [Garoppolo's] healthy, we'll see what happens," Shanahan said.
49ers players report to training camp on July 26. With Garoppolo recovering from the team, second-year quarterback Trey Lance took most of the practice snaps this offseason. He is slated to be the 49ers' starting quarterback during the upcoming season after starting just two games during his rookie 2021 campaign and making only 71 pass attempts.
Lance's head coach has no doubt that the 22-year-old quarterback is ready for the challenge of leading an NFL offense.
"Trey's got more horsepower inside of him than I think he even knows of, just from the whole talent, but also what he's made of, how intelligent he is," Shanahan said during the State of the Francisco event earlier this month. "I think he's going to be able to overcome adversity. I do believe he's going to be able to handle this pressure. It's going to be hard, but that's what the position is."
