Mike Silver joined 95.7 The Game’s “Damon & Ratto” Tuesday to give his candid thoughts on the 49ers quarterback situation.
Silver, who has covered the NFL for decades but recently joined the San Francisco Chronicle as a 49ers columnist, believes Jimmy Garoppolo’s contract was restructured to shore up any lingering doubts about Trey Lance taking over the offense in 2022.
“They were treating (Garoppolo) like he was already gone, so something changed,” Silver said told hosts Damon Bruce and Ray Ratto. “I think we can spend a lot of time talking about the potential advantages of this or what ancillary benefits might come up. Someone else could get hurt, they could trade him, blah, blah, blah. But if you are ignoring the basic reality, which is hitting us all in the face, which is, ‘This is a hedge and there’s a reason he’s hedging,’ then I think you’re in delusion land. Then again, a lot of fans tend to be there. …
“You’ve got an obviously great game-planner and schemer (in coach Kyle Shanahan) and can put Trey Lance in a great position to thrive. In the end, I think Kyle’s decided, here’s an opportunity. Yes it will create more drama and yes it will add some stress to an already stressful situation for a young player, but that’s worth it to me, because now I have a hedge.”
Silver also said it wouldn’t be out of the question to see Garoppolo start some games this season if Lance struggles.
“If that doesn’t go well … yeah you could maybe have Jimmy jump in and maybe make another run,” Silver said. “But that’s concerning from a franchise-building perspective. The window doesn’t last forever necessarily and they’re built to win now.”
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