There are only about three weeks before the San Francisco 49ers kick off the 2022 season and they still have a reserve quarterback with 47 career starts and a $24.2 million salary on their roster.
Jimmy Garoppolo, despite the 49ers' intentions to trade him and clear the way for the Trey Lance era, remains with the team and San Francisco chief executive officer Jed York said he is OK with keeping Jimmy G on the squad if it comes to that.
"I've said this before, you can't have enough good quarterbacks and good football players," York told The Athletic's Tim Kawakami. "I'm not going to get into roster discussions and what (general manager) John (Lynch) and (head coach) Kyle (Shanahan) want to do. But I will support them in sort of anything that they want to make this team as good as it can possibly be.
"I watched it with Joe (Montana) and Steve (Young) and I realize the salary cap is different today than having no salary cap. But we've said it before: We're happy to keep Jimmy. We're happy to have him on the roster. And if that's the case, then that's the case."
Keeping Garoppolo is likely to be a distraction -- even with Garoppolo having been a class act throughout the process -- when the team is trying to move forward with the maturation of Lance as their bona fide QB of the future, and would also be an expensive choice.
Garoppolo's shoulder injury at the end of the 49ers' playoff run last season and subsequent surgery threw a monkey wrench into San Francisco's trade plans. Still, there was an expectation Jimmy G would be traded prior to the end of July. As the seventh month on the calendar came and went and Garoppolo did not, it became clearer that teams would wait until a fully healthy QB emerged. Garoppolo has been throwing off to the side during 49ers practices with the season drawing near, but there's been no movement.
Pickings as they relate to trade suitors are seemingly slim. The most recent rumblings have surrounded the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets, but they each have veteran backups with starting experience ready to go in Jacoby Brissett and Joe Flacco, respectively. Another team of note is the Seattle Seahawks, but it's difficult to imagine the 49ers dealing Garoppolo to an NFC West rival.
So, if it comes to it, York is fine and dandy with keeping Jimmy G around.
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