This has been a tough offseason for the San Francisco 49ers regarding their plan for a smooth quarterback transition. In March, the plan was to trade Jimmy Garoppolo, the team's starter over the past four-plus seasons. However, the quarterback undergoing shoulder surgery took the 49ers by surprise, bringing all trade discussions to a screeching halt.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk believes San Francisco has "repeatedly bungled" their quarterback decisions since head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch took over in 2017. He points to the team passing on Patrick Mahomes in their first draft together when they were poised to start Brian Hoyer. Florio insists trading for Garoppolo rather than waiting for Kirk Cousins was a mistake.


Then, of course, you have the 49ers passing on Tom Brady in 2020, a topic Florio loves to bring up. In San Francisco's defense, the team was coming off a Super Bowl appearance, and Garoppolo had a career year. Brady is also 14 years older than Garoppolo and was coming off an unspectacular (by Brady standards) season. That proved a mistake, as Brady went on to lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl win.

The 49ers have three options when it comes to Garoppolo—trade him, keep him, or release him. Option one would require another team having a quarterback need and giving something up for the veteran while taking on his salary—or at least being willing to renegotiate it. On the other hand, keeping Garoppolo might mean being comfortable with his nearly $27 million salary-cap hit. Although, with all things salary-cap-related, there are always options.

"Once he passes a physical, he has no guaranteed pay unless he's on the Week One active roster," Florio wrote in a recent mailbag article for Pro Football Talk. "If, however, he ends up suffering a season-ending injury in training camp or the preseason, the team will be on the hook for his full pay."

Releasing the quarterback would get Garoppolo's salary off the books, but it would allow a team, like the division-rival Seattle Seahawks, to swoop in and sign him.

Florio has consistently touted the narrative that Garoppolo should want out of his current situation as soon as possible. However, he acknowledges that the quarterback has made the situation more challenging for himself and the 49ers. He delayed potential trades with the timing of his surgery.


There is also the chance that an NFL opportunity opens up before Week 1.

"Garoppolo should want out now so that he has a fair chance to compete for a starting job elsewhere," Florio notes. "However, he'd benefit from a possible season-ending injury to a starter elsewhere since that team possibly would be willing to pay all or most [of] his full freight in 2022. Otherwise, he's not seeing anything close to that money, especially if he's cut after the preseason concludes.

"Absent an injury, the 49ers will have a hard time getting significant value [for] Garoppolo — and he'll have a hard time getting much of a salary — given that the Panthers got Baker Mayfield for a fifth-round pick and $5 million. The question is whether Garoppolo is truly willing to play along with waiting for an injury that may not happen."

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