© Joe Nicholson | 2020 Nov 1
The 49ers might not get a replacement for Jimmy Garoppolo this offseason, but they’ll at least be getting someone to back him up. John Lynch said as much, admitting that the quarterback room needs to be improved considering Garoppolo’s injury history.
Tim Kawakami, Editor-in-Chief of The Athletic, gave his take on who is the most likely to enter the season as Garoppolo’s backup, when he joined John Lund and Mark Willard on Wednesday. It’s someone Garoppolo knows quite well; his former teammate in New England, Jacoby Brissett.
“The main thing they failed in, in 2020, other than Garoppolo not playing well and getting hurt…is they didn’t have a viable backup,” Kawakami said on KNBR. “They didn’t have someone who could go in there and win three games for them. They’re going to do that, I don’t think there’s any question. They’re going to have options; Ryan Fitzpatrick, try to trade for Sam Darnold, which I think would be their number one option, I just think Robert Saleh isn’t going to give up Darnold to Kyle Shanahan for free.
“I just like Brissett mainly because he’s been with Garoppolo before with the Patriots and maybe there’s a good friendly competition there. I think he plays in a way Shanahan would like. He’s not a great quarterback, if he’s playing 16 games for you in 2021 that’s probably not great, but that wouldn’t be the plan. I think you could get him at a decent number, again maybe Jed York pays some signing bonus so it knocks down the 2021 cap hit, sign him to a two year deal. I think Brissett works for me mentally. It just seems to fit that.”
Brissett, who was teammates with Garoppolo in 2016, was essentially used as the Colts’ third- and fourth-down designated QB-sneaker and as the guy they occasionally employed on deep throw situations to relieve the now-retired Phillip Rivers of his, er… limitations at the age of 39. Brissett had signed a massive, two-year, $30 million deal with the Colts in 2019, which was partially a bet on the production he showed in his sophomore year (3,098 yards, 13 touchdowns, 7 interceptions) after Andrew Luck’s shoulder injury, but more a panic move out of necessity, with Luck having retired in the preseason, and Brissett needing a raise.
He underwhelmed in 2019, despite an efficient TD-to-INT ratio of 18:6, as Rivers replaced him. It’s a nebulous equation trying to figure out Brissett’s market value, but at age 28, the other former Tom Brady backup would be a reasonable option.
“Other guys could,” Kawakami continued. “If they get Darnold it would be a super backup, it would be a guy competing with Jimmy every day in training camp, and that would be fun to watch. I just think it’s going to be a little expensive, but I’m going with Brissett…(He’s) 28, almost the same age as Garoppolo. You kind’ve just go with Jimmy and Jimmy 1A, and they’ve been together like that before.”
Listen to the full interview below.