The Jimmy Garoppolo chatter won’t end until he moves on, or will it?
Thought Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch have made it seem like Garoppolo being on another team’s roster come Week 1 will be a foregone conclusion, former 49ers Hall-of-Fame quarterback Steve Young isn’t so sure.
He believes there could be value in keeping Garoppolo around, especially with Trey Lance completely unproven.
“A year ago today, I talked about the 49ers’ quarterback situation as being fraught with terror,” Young told NBC Sports’ Matt Maiocco. “And I give Jimmy credit for not only playing pretty well, but making sure it was not fraught with terror. He did a good job. It was hard and it was complicated. I really appreciate his spirit in how he did that. It was a tough spot and he did a good job.
“So here we are today with a full commitment, it seems, from the 49ers to say Jimmy is going to move on. So we get that part. Is it really full? I don’t know. I think there’s still a chance Jimmy is on the team. I think we need to just recognize that.”
Young made it clear that he’s not projecting Jimmy will stick around, but that it’s still on the table. Garoppolo likely already would have been traded this offseason if not for a surprise shoulder surgery that froze his market. Garoppolo is well on his way to recovery, but now there are very few, if any, suitors left.
Still, keeping Garoppolo on the roster would mean the 49ers would have to pay around $24 million for what would essentially be a backup.
“Until Trey has a chance to take it, they need to make sure they got this covered,” Young said. “Do you pay $24 million to have it covered? All those things are way above you and I’s pay grade. Until Jimmy’s gone, you got to know that Jimmy’s personality is capable of coming back into that locker room and not causing too much grief.
“But I don’t think that’s going to happen.”