George Kittle insists he doesn’t know what the 49ers’ plan at quarterback is next season.
He’s also insisting that it doesn’t matter to him who’s under center.
San Francisco’s situation at quarterback is a fascinating one. Jimmy Garoppolo has helped lead the Niners on deep playoff runs, but he’s hit his ceiling and has just one year left on his contract, which is also structured in a way that makes him easy to cut this offseason. Meanwhile, the exciting but raw Trey Lance, picked third overall last year, is waiting for his opportunity to take the keys from Garoppolo.
The Niners would sooner trade Garoppolo rather than cut him, but no one will make a move for him right now because he’s recovering from shoulder surgery.
It’s an interesting predicament for general manager John Lynch, who has voiced a willingness to keep Garoppolo next season. Asked about the uncertainty on the “I Am Athlete” podcast, Kittle, San Francisco’s star tight end, played it neutral.
“I’m kind of 50-50, right in the middle, honestly,” Kittle said. “I think Jimmy, he’s a fantastic leader. We’ve almost won a Super Bowl, we went to the NFC Championship twice in three seasons. And then you look at Trey who’s just got – I think Trey’s got one of the highest ceilings I’ve ever seen before. Some of the things you see him do on the football field are like holy cow, like I can’t wait until he throws me passes.
“So I don’t know. I want whoever is going to be a better quarterback this season. It is a business at the end of the day. We’re all just monetary values, cogs in the machine, and I do trust Kyle Shanahan. I think he’s going to pick the best quarterback. I don’t have a preference, I don’t. I like them both, they’re both good guys, they both bring different things to the table.”
Kittle and Garoppolo have played together for a while now, so there’s plenty of familiarity there. At the same time, Kittle in the same interview further raved about Lance and likened his potential to Josh Allen, so clearly he’s bullish on the future of the 49ers’ situation at quarterback.
The organization might be bullish on it too. They just need to figure out if the future is now or 2023.
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