Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre made headlines on Monday in an interview with "The 33rd Team", providing his stance on the San Francisco 49ers' quarterback situation, and sharing his beliefs that Jimmy Garoppolo should be the starter for the 49ers.
"My personal opinion, I would go with Garoppolo," Favre said. "He's not as flashy -- not near as flashy. He wasn't their first-round pick, and no offense towards Trey Lance, but what Jimmy has done is win. And win, win, win."
Favre isn't incorrect that the 49ers have a winning record when Garoppolo plays—the veteran quarterback has gone 31-14 in his 45 starts with the team, but he has also had his fair share of injuries, which have forced him to miss the majority of two seasons.
However, Favre believes that Garoppolo has been vital to the success of the offense, having put the 49ers in a position to succeed several times.
"Again, not flashy, so it's not the glamorous pick, but my goodness, the guy has won and put them in a position to go or compete for the Super Bowl year in and year out and deserves that right to keep playing," Favre added.
Even if Trey Lance, the presumed starter for the 49ers, according to head coach Kyle Shanahan, begins the season under center, Favre wouldn't be surprised if Garoppolo came in at some point for a number of reasons.
"Now, who knows? He may end up at some point starting if Trey gets hurt or underperforms, and if you have to bring in Jimmy Garoppolo, that's a good thing," Favre said.
However, Favre admits that the 49ers do indeed have a strong defense and recognizes the potential of Lance, while pointing out that Garoppolo is definitely a winner.
"But their defense is really good," Favre noted. "Barring injury, offensively, if Trey plays the way they hope he is capable of, then they're competing for [a championship] right there at the end. There's a tremendous upside with Trey; no question about it. But Jimmy G. has been a proven winner. And that oftentimes gets overlooked — is a guy a winner? And Jimmy Garoppolo is definitely a winner."
The 49ers seem set on their quarterback situation, with Shanahan mentioning several times that Lance is their quarterback moving forward for a variety of reasons over the course of this offseason.
Additionally, 49ers insider Cam Inman shared that keeping Garoppolo past the August 30th cutdown date is "off the table" for the 49ers, furthering the certainty that Lance will be the one under center come Week 1.