The 49ers traded up to the No. 3 pick in the draft yesterday, which they'll use on a quarterback. But they maintain that Jimmy Garoppolo will be their starting quarterback in 2021. Should anyone believe them?
Keeping Garoppolo and starting him in 2021 does make some sense. The team has playoff aspirations -- it was in the Super Bowl just over a year ago -- and whichever quarterback they draft will need some grooming and development. If they trade Garoppolo, they'd either be throwing their rookie into the fire in Week 1 (in a division that features some of the league's best pass rushers, including Aaron Donald and now J.J. Watt), or be starting Nick Mullens, which no one really wants to see.
So while Garoppolo might not be happy about suddenly being cast as a bridge quarterback, that might well be his lot this season. Ideally, from his standpoint, playing well enough that some team will be enamored enough of him to hand him the reins to its starting job in 2022.
There's also the distinct possibility that San Francisco is saying it won't trade Garoppolo because it doesn't have a lot of choice in the matter. Garoppolo will make around $26 million this season, and it's hard to argue he's worth it. Does anyone want to acquire him and pay him that kind of money? The guy has proven to be a pretty mediocre quarterback.
Including the playoffs, Garoppolo has started 35 games since 2016 (2 for the Patriots, 33 for San Francisco). He's averaged 236 passing yards and just under 1.5 TD passes per game. Project those numbers out over a full season, and you have a starting quarterback who throws for 3,775 yards and 23 touchdowns. In fantasy football terms, that would rank him 21st among the 25 quarterbacks who started most of the season a year ago. That's a quarterback any team (except apparently the Giants, still committed to Daniel Jones) would be looking to replace.
| GAROPPOLO CAREER VERSUS 2020 QUARTERBACKS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Pass | PaTD | Run | RuTD | FFPts |
| 2020 | Josh Allen, Buff. | 4544 | 37 | 421 | 8 | 473.5 |
| 2020 | Kyler Murray, Ariz. | 3971 | 26 | 819 | 11 | 450.4 |
| 2020 | Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 4299 | 48 | 149 | 3 | 440.2 |
| 2020 | Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 4740 | 38 | 308 | 2 | 437.8 |
| 2020 | Deshaun Watson, Hou. | 4823 | 33 | 444 | 3 | 437.5 |
| 2020 | Russell Wilson, Sea. | 4212 | 40 | 513 | 2 | 435.9 |
| 2020 | Tom Brady, T.B. | 4633 | 40 | 6 | 3 | 410.2 |
| 2020 | Ryan Tannehill, Ten. | 3819 | 33 | 266 | 7 | 398.5 |
| 2020 | Justin Herbert, LAC | 4336 | 31 | 234 | 5 | 398.2 |
| 2020 | Lamar Jackson, Balt. | 2757 | 26 | 1005 | 7 | 386.3 |
| 2020 | Kirk Cousins, Min. | 4265 | 35 | 156 | 1 | 384.8 |
| 2020 | Matt Ryan, Atl. | 4581 | 26 | 92 | 2 | 356.2 |
| 2020 | Derek Carr, L.V. | 4103 | 27 | 140 | 3 | 347.1 |
| 2020 | Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt. | 3803 | 33 | 11 | 0 | 327.2 |
| 2020 | Matthew Stafford, Det. | 4084 | 26 | 112 | 0 | 323.4 |
| 2020 | Jared Goff, LAR | 3952 | 20 | 99 | 4 | 313.5 |
| 2020 | Cam Newton, N.E. | 2657 | 8 | 592 | 12 | 309.5 |
| 2020 | Baker Mayfield, Cle. | 3563 | 26 | 165 | 1 | 308.2 |
| 2020 | Teddy Bridgewater, Car. | 3733 | 15 | 279 | 5 | 306.5 |
| 2020 | Philip Rivers, Ind. | 4169 | 24 | -8 | 0 | 305.6 |
| 16-'20 | Jimmy Garoppolo, S.F. | 3775 | 23 | 64 | 1 | 293.2 |
| 2020 | Carson Wentz, Phil. | 2620 | 16 | 276 | 5 | 262.6 |
| 2020 | Drew Brees, N.O. | 2942 | 24 | -2 | 2 | 254.9 |
| 2020 | Drew Lock, Den. | 2933 | 16 | 160 | 3 | 246.6 |
| 2020 | Daniel Jones, NYG | 2943 | 11 | 423 | 1 | 241.4 |
Of the other six guys in Career Garoppolo area, two retired, one was traded away, and two others (Bridgewater and Lock) are on teams that would like to draft their next franchise quarterback atop this year's draft. I think the Broncos might very well swing a trade with the Falcons, sitting at No. 4, to get up there (NFC South rival Carolina seems less likely). The Giants are giving Jones another season, with improved weapons around him, but a year from now they might very well be replacing him too.
So I believe San Francisco, at least today, when they say they aren't trading Garoppolo. Mainly because I don't know that anyone is actually calling them expressing an interest in acquiring him, even with him having quarterbacked them to a Super Bowl not so long ago. Not at his salary, and not based on his NFL career thus far.
--Andy Richardson