Matthew Stafford cost three draft choices, which meant that the San Francisco 49ers' interest in the new Los Angeles Rams quarterback was essentially no-thanks-on-arrival. We can infer from this development that any move they might want to make on Houston's disaffected Deshaun Watson is even closer to DOA because their trade assets haven't changed but the haul the Texans expect for Watson exceeds what the Detroit Lions received. And we can further assume what has been the likeliest scenario about the 49ers' quarterback matter all along — that Jimmy Garoppolo is still the starter and most preferable choice to Kyle Shanahan.
And while this will be viewed by some as a massive letdown, it does beg some important questions.
Is 2019 really as relevant in Shanahan's thinking as 2018 was not in Les Snead's? How much is a very recent Super Bowl defeat weighted in the modern market? And how much do 49er fans really hate a guy who got them to a Super Bowl and then got hurt?
The answer to the last one is, of course, just the right amount, because that's always the answer. 49er fans have been fixated on improving the quarterback position even through the height of the Montana Era because he didn't have Dan Marino's arm, let alone John Elway's, and we all know how Bill Walsh kicked the tires on giving up Montana for Elway back in the day (he asked, the Broncos rebuffed).
And there isn't even legitimate anger to be tossed at Kyle Shanahan, who apparently did make an offer on Stafford and discovered quickly that the Rams were more desperate and regarded their draft choices with far less reverence. He apparently thinks Stafford is better, too, but he simply doesn't have the throw-weight to make a blockbuster deal. That would therefore rule out any kind of thought about Deshaun Watson as soon as Houston Texans management is revealed as the bumbling fibbers they are and start fielding offers.
In other words, as everyone begrudgingly predicted, it's more Garoppolo, as though that's some sort of acceptance of the inevitability of death. The truth is, and has always been, that Garoppolo behind a good and healthy line with even middling and healthy weapons can get you to a Super Bowl with the benefit of an excellent defense — like most quarterbacks below sixth and above 16th on the list. That's who he was, and is, and is likely to be, and until people get their heads around the idea that the 49ers have more pressing needs than replacing him, they are likely to be disappointed and agitated simultaneously.
As for Shanahan's interest in Stafford, he's supposed to do that. He's supposed to imagine the 49ers with Sam Darnold, too, and Drew Lock, and laugh though you might, even Alex Smith. He can take only a second to reject the ideas he puts in his head, but he still has to put them there. That's what due diligence means — imagining the impossible in case it becomes possible, and considering the preposterous in case it suddenly becomes tolerable in an emergency.
Still, Shanahan is probably spending more time trying to imagine a better offensive line, and an improved secondary too. I mean, he ought to be. Imaging quarterback trades are easy and fun, and mostly a waste of time when entire position groups are lacking. Especially the one that can make and break a quarterback in the most literal sense. Only nobody wants to talk about the blockbuster offensive line deal because there isn't one, and has almost never been one.
But it's nice to see in real time the 49ers' real quarterback problem, and it isn't Jimmy Garoppolo — they don't have enough stuff to trade to get a big-ticket one, and the draft is still three months away. That won't stop the complaining, of course, but it will introduce a different name to the equation. Now you can start arguing about whether you'd rather have Garoppolo or Trey Lance, and see if you can convince yourself. Knowing you, I'm betting you can.
