The San Francisco 49ers sound genuinely happy to have Jimmy Garoppolo returning for the 2022 season. After reworking his deal, creating a lot of salary cap space along the way, the quarterback will serve as Trey Lance's backup in Week 1 against the Chicago Bears.
Garoppolo's new one-year contract has a no-trade clause, though. It's been the topic of some conversation. After everything the quarterback has done for the team, the 49ers never planned to trade Garoppolo this offseason to a place he didn't want to go. The no-trade clause just puts that into writing. Garoppolo has to approve the move and waive the clause if a trade opportunity presents itself.
Garoppolo's new deal is also more enticing for any interested NFL teams out there. And who knows what could happen from now until the trade deadline? A quarterback-needy team willing to surrender draft capital might emerge.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch spoke with reporters via a conference call on Tuesday. Shanahan was asked about the restructured contract and if it makes Garoppolo more enticing as a tradable asset.
"Yeah," Shanahan admitted. "The less a contract is, the more enticing you always are at every single position, for every team. So that would be 'yes' [to that] question."
Shanahan also addressed the quarterback room situation, with Lance and his former mentor remaining together. The coach feels that the two quarterbacks have a great relationship and genuinely like being around each other. That makes what could have been an awkward situation doable.
"I think when you have a quarterback room where people do like each other, it makes it more fun to come to work because you are in that room a lot together," Shanahan said. "And I know those dudes do like each other. They've got some different skill sets, so they both can learn from each other just by watching each other. The more they are around each other, the more they talk, usually, that rubs off in both ways."