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Baldinger on why the 49ers might need to play Jimmy Garoppolo during preseason
Jul 8, 2022 at 11:39 AM
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It's been four months since Jimmy Garoppolo underwent shoulder surgery on March 8. The decision to do so took the San Francisco 49ers brain trust by surprise. They had hoped to trade their starting quarterback of the past four-and-a-half seasons, allowing second-year player Trey Lance to be the uncontested Week 1 starter. However, Garoppolo's decision to undergo surgery halted talks with other teams.
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You know where we were at before that, and then he got surgery, so everything went on hold," head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters in May. "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 number of quarterback-needy teams has significantly diminished since then. The team most considered the likeliest Garoppolo landing spot, the Carolina Panthers, traded for Baker Mayfield this week. That has left San Francisco with few options aside from keeping Garoppolo on the roster or releasing him.
That could change, though. Perhaps a quarterback-needy team emerges ahead of Week 1. Still, one NFL analyst doesn't believe anyone will trade for Garoppolo until they see how his repaired shoulder holds up in real game action.
"I don't think he's thrown a football yet," NFL Media's Brian Baldinger told 95.7 The Game's Damon Bruce and Ray Ratto. "I can't imagine anybody making a move to trade for Jimmy Garoppolo and a $25 million contract ... if they're not sure about his arm. And I don't know if you can be sure about that injury until you're actually in pads and getting hit, maybe playing a preseason game.
"Now, maybe I'm completely wrong on this, Damon, but I think other teams, whoever might be interested, and even if there is an injury someplace, I think they've got to see just how he's going to hold up and how he's effected by that surgery."
The 49ers report to training camp on July 26. Should Garoppolo still be on the roster at that point, Shanahan says he expects the quarterback to practice.
"I'll think about that when that day comes," Shanahan said. "But [if] Jimmy's under contract with us, and he's healthy, right now, I would see him coming to practice unless we traded him."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Baldinger below.
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