Now that the three hours of euphoria over the 49ers' megadeal with the Miami Dolphins that essentially guarantees Kyle Shanahan the quarterback of the future, let us remind you that the quarterback of the present is still there, and whatever version of Treystin Lancelson they choose to take at No. 3 will be learning at the elbow at J. Richard Garoppolo.
As it should be.
That said, this will do nothing to quell the demands of the lunatic edges of the fan base that Garoppolo that he be shipped off in a stasis tube to Turkmenistan to work the natural gas fields, but that's fine. You pays your cable bill, you gets to annoy your friends — as soon as you get the vaccine anyway. None of that Andrelton Simmons I'll-pass-thanks for you.
This is a huge think for the 49ers, no lie, but until further notice Shanahan remains the careful builder he is. He doesn't take reckless chances — his free agency work was all about rebuilding a tattered offensive line, which was the thing sensible all said he would most need to and most likely would do. There is no guarantee that Trevtrey Fieldzack or whatever quarterback he takes with that pick is going to pan out, and said new kid is going to have the usual crushing Shanahanian learning curve. Plus despite the fevered analyses demanding that Garoppolo be tied to a ton of explosives and lashed to the bow of the Suez Canal boat (and then be blamed for being injury-prone when the boat is exploded), he will remain the bane of your existence.
What happened Friday was that the 49ers addressed their real quarterback problem — the gap between their starting quarterback and the ether behind it. Nick Mullens is post-surgical and C.J. Beathard is a Jacksonville Jaguar, which for the moment is probably worse. Josh Rosen is around, for what that may be worth, and Josh Johnson will be probably be signed two or three more times between now and training camp.
But the longterm future is Number 3, and that is only prudent for any team who dos not have a quarterback either at or near their 40s. This trade also tells us that Miami, which then traded out of 12 to help the Philadelphia Eagles so they could get to 6 and presumably begin the process of trading that pick as part of a series that could eventually make them the new Oklahoma City Thunder with their 17 firsts and 17 seconds between now and 2028. After all, draft picks are cool because nobody knows anything about them, and hopeful ignorance beats the stuff you already know every time.
As a caveat, we should say here that there is a slim chance that Shanahan might NOT take a quarterback at No. 3. Maybe he decides he wants the best offensive line ever and drafts Oregon tackle Penei Sewell just to see the horrified looks on your soon-to-be-enraged faces, which would be the biggest gangster move ever: "So you think you have me figured out? Well, watch this."
But even if he only did it for my entertainment, and then immediately traded Sewell to Atlanta at No. 4 to get the quarterback they would have gotten at No. 3, I'd call it God's work. I'd take that in a heartbeat and then have a beer knowing that someone is looking out for my amusement.