Peter King of Monday Morning Quarterback and Sports Illustrated joined Joe, Lo & Dibs on 95.7 The Game this morning to discuss the Oakland Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers.
On the 49ers side, he discussed head coach Chip Kelly and general manager Trent Baalke's future with the organization.
Chip Kelly
"I would be extremely surprised if Chip Kelly threw up the white flag and ran away to college at the end of this year," said King. "Now look, the 49ers are probably going 3-13. Pick a number. I don't know. But if I am Jed York, I'm thinking right now, 'Chip, hang on and go pick whoever the quarterback of your dreams is and we're going to go get him. We're going to find him.'
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"Maybe, you know what? And maybe the quarterback of Chip's dreams is Jimmy Garoppolo and maybe they trade a one and a three to New England and have to overpay to get Jimmy Garoppolo. And I'm not saying you trade the second pick in the draft or something for Jimmy Garoppolo. I don't mean that. But I'm just saying that maybe you overpay somehow to get a guy who you truly like. Who you think can be your quarterback and a playoff quarterback for the next 10 years, which I happen to believe Jimmy Garoppolo can be.
"But this is why you got Chip Kelly. You got Chip Kelly to build a great offense with a great quarterback. He's a great offensive mind. It's just not showing right now. The offensive line stinks. They don't' have a quarterback of the future, I don't think. And so everybody's going to judge Chip through a weird prism. How much of this is his fault? Not a lot, in my opinion.
"And I remember a conversation that I had with NaVorro Bowman at training camp this year. Actually, in Denver. I went to see them practice in Denver when they were practicing with the Broncos. And he basically said to me – he said, 'Look, I'm not doubting anything that happened in Philadelphia last year, but this guy has been fantastic. You won't find a discouraging word said about him in our locker room. We really like this guy.' So, I don't think you're going to have that sort of problem. I think he's handled the Kaepernick things really well."
Trent Baalke
"But now about Baalke, look, I think Jed York is a pragmatist. I think Jed York loves Trent Baalke. But I think he's going to look at the landscape and I think he's basically going to say – and this is just my opinion, 'Ok, 5-11, 3-13.' You ask anybody in the league, the talent-base is really down. Now, you've got some very good young players on defense, but a lot of the offense right now is a disaster.
"So, I don't know what Jed York will do. I truly don't. But if you ask me my gut feeling, they go 8-24 over two years, I think that he'd probably make a change with Trent. But again, that's simply an opinion and it's not based anything on inside knowledge."
You can listen to the entire interview on 95.7 The Game.
