49ers are going to pay a steep price to keep Jimmy Garoppolo around
The 49ers have a massive decision to make on quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. The former Patriots backup is owed $26.95 million if he’s on the roster for Week 1. If he 49ers keep him on the roster his $26.95 million will be fully guaranteed. That’s a hefty price to pay for a backup quarterback.
The 49ers have focused their offense around first rounder Trey Lance this preseason. Keeping Garoppolo around allows the 49ers to have a security blanket in the event Lance struggles.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan hasn’t ruled out keeping Garoppolo. With roster cuts looming in the coming days, keeping Garoppolo means they’ll have the most expensive backup in NFL.
"I don't know what I'll do that day. I'll probably decide when it comes," the coach said.
Former Packers legend Brett Favre doesn’t quite understand what the 49ers are doing and says he’d start Garoppolo over Lance.
“My personal opinion, I would go with Garoppolo,” Favre told The 33rd Team in an interview shared on Monday. “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.
“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.”
They could trade him but the only team in dire need of a quarterback is the Seattle Seahawks. It’s unlikely the 49ers would trade Garoppolo within the division.
Garoppolo is healthy, he’s brought the 49ers to a NFC Championship and a Super Bowl. Lance hasn’t been in the league very long, so the young quarterback doesn’t have the resume of his potential backup. The 49ers keeping Garoppolo seems negligent and doesn’t allow the team to move on with Lance as their franchise signal caller.
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