Maybe the 49ers want a mulligan on this one.
According to ESPN's Seth Wickersham, who recently published a book titled "It's Better to Be Feared" which chronicles the New England Patriots, the 49ers turned down a 2021 second-round pick in exchange for Jimmy Garoppolo. Matt Miller of NFLdraftscout.com shared an excerpt of the book via Twitter on Tuesday.
"There was an informal call between a high-level representative of the Patriots and a high-level 49ers official," Wickersham wrote, via Miller. "What was Garoppolo's price? New England wondered if a second-rounder would suffice—calling it even from 2017. But the 49ers wouldn't take less than a first."
The Patriots look like they've played their cards right at the quarterback position, cutting ties with Cam Newton before Week 1 and relying on impressive rookie Mac Jones, whom they picked at No. 15.
Garoppolo, meanwhile, carries a cap hit of $26.4 million and has 1,106 passing yards with six touchdowns and four interceptions in five starts. According to Spotrac, Garoppolo has the league's fifth-highest cap hit and 13th-highest quarterback contract by average annual value. But no matter how you slice it, Jimmy G hasn't been a top-15 quarterback so far this season.
The 49ers are stripped of first-round picks until 2023 after using three first-rounders and a 2022 third-round compensatory pick to move up to No. 3 and draft Trey Lance. Had they stayed at No. 14 -- and perhaps drafted Jones -- while stocking another 2021 second-round pick without mortgaging so much future draft capital, the 49ers would be in a much better position than they are now.
Garoppolo doesn't look like a winner and Lance is dealing with a knee injury he suffered in Week 5 that kept him out of Sunday night's loss to the Colts following a bye. He will try to work himself back into shape to contribute in Week 8 against the Bears, though Garoppolo has been named the starter.
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"We know Trey is the future here and we're trying to get do what's best for him and for our team," 49ers coach Kyle Shananan told reporters Monday. "And Trey's coming off a pretty big injury and we're going to keep bringing him along and keep getting him prepared as good as he can be to always be ready to come in and help on the plays that we ask him to do."
We're approaching the midway point of the season and Lance has played in just six quarters of regular-season action so far. Jones is 3-4 as a starter but is still completing more than 70 percent of his passes to begin his NFL career.
It goes to show how much the 49ers valued (value?) Garoppolo that they wouldn't accept a second-round pick for him despite being 30 years old and the fact he only played one full season in his career. They could have signed a free agent like Andy Dalton or Ryan Fitzpatrick or attempted to trade for someone like Marcus Mariota -- if they wanted a veteran -- without breaking the bank for Garoppolo and Lance.
Bill Belichick and the Pats are probably happy that they didn't make a deal to bring Garoppolo back to New England. They also had the guts to ride with their rookie and shed Newton's contract, and it looks like it's going to pay off in the future.
