It’s easy to sit here on July 6 and wag your finger at the 49ers front office.
On Wednesday morning, the Carolina Panthers acquired quarterback Baker Mayfield from the Cleveland Browns via trade, closing the door on perhaps the final trade destination for Jimmy Garoppolo this offseason.
What does John Lynch do now? Wait out the Deshaun Watson lawsuit situation and see if the Browns need a quarterback this fall? See if the Seattle Seahawks want an upgrade over Drew Lock? Take one on the chin and cut Jimmy G four months too late?
Option C might be the best bet for the 49ers now.
The 49ers can save $25.5 million by cutting Garoppolo – only that money would have been much more valuable to the franchise before free agency opened on March 16. Lynch and the Niners did the honorable thing by supporting Garoppolo through his shoulder surgery recovery, after he underwent the knife on March 8. In hindsight, they should have just cut him loose then.
Lynch was confident that the 49ers would find a suitor for Garoppolo, who should be returning to throwing activities around this time. As the musical chairs played out around the NFL, the Niners are now left holding a $26.9 million bag.
The team’s three-year pact with cornerback Charvarius Ward worth up to $42 million was the richest contract they could hand out, while other contenders around the league were making big-money moves. Lynch told the media otherwise, but it appeared the 49ers were hamstrung and had to focus on building out peripheral parts like the special teams unit through free agency. No big splashes.
Reports around the team have indicated that Garoppolo hasn’t been a part of the team’s offseason work, as second-year quarterback Trey Lance gets ready to take over the reins of the offense. It doesn’t make much sense to have Jimmy G hanging out in the quarterback room and looking over Lance’s shoulder this fall.
At this point, the 49ers might just have to take the ‘L’ and cut Garoppolo. The Browns only received a fifth-round pick for Mayfield and had to ship $10.5 million to the Panthers to make the deal happen. The return for Garoppolo can’t be much higher – maybe a fourth-round pick at this point. It appears the 49ers have misplayed their hand.
If there’s an affinity between both sides, maybe the 49ers can bring Jimmy G back on a deal that’s closer to a typical backup quarterback salary. But given the dynamics with Lance, the team’s best shot is to divorce from Garoppolo with some extra cap space and a misshapen roster. Probably not how Lynch envisioned this all playing out.
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