© Tim Fuller | 2021 Jan 3
The 49ers were the betting favorites to land Matthew Stafford, but a team that was a long shot ended up winning the sweepstakes.
Stafford was traded to the Rams on Saturday evening, for two first-round picks, a third-rounder and quarterback Jared Goff who had fallen out of favor in Los Angeles. The 49ers decided not to take the big swing, and now will have to face Stafford twice a year, at least for the foreseeable future.
So why didn’t the 49ers push harder for Stafford, who many like Steve Young believed would’ve made San Francisco immediate Super Bowl favorites in the NFC? 49ers beat writer Eric Branch gave his two cents when he joined KNBR on Monday, saying that Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch were interested in Stafford at a low price, but like Jimmy Garoppolo enough that they weren’t willing to extend themselves very far.
“My thought on this was that of all the teams that had interest, or were rumored to have interest, the Niners were probably the least desperate of all of them, and if things got into sort of a bidding war, they would be out,” Branch said. “I think that’s largely true of what unfolded. I think it’s pretty clear (the 49ers) like Jimmy Garoppolo more than the Rams like Jared Goff. Just based on what the Rams head coach and general manager said about Jared Goff after the season, and you compare it to what Shanahan and Lynch have said. I know you don’t want to put too much stock into what these guys say to reporters, but boy, you just got a really bad vibe as it relates to the Rams and Jared Goff. It sure felt like they were really disgusted with him almost.
“You could say that Lynch and Shanahan are a little more polished when it comes to talking about Garoppolo, but I think there is an element of ‘worse case scenario, if we can’t get a guy who’s an upgrade, we still have a guy who if he can stay healthy, we think gives us a chance to win.’
“So when it gets to the Lions calling the Niners saying ‘We just got an offer for two first-round picks and a third,’ the Niners are like ‘Congratulations and we’re definitely out.’”
Lynch and Shanahan have reason to believe they shouldn’t pay a lot for someone like Stafford, considering they nearly won a Super Bowl just a year ago with Garoppolo at the helm. If Garoppolo is healthy, it’s reasonable to believe they could do the same in 2021, but that’s a big if.
“I think it definitely comes down to there is some level of confidence in Jimmy Garoppolo. Not enough to say let’s restructure his contract and tie ourselves to him for the next year or two, it certainly doesn’t go that far. And who knows what’s going to be ahead in the future as far as this offseason as it relates to quarterback movement and the Niners involvement. But Stafford made a lot of sense and the fact that he’s no longer available greatly increases the chances that Jimmy Garoppolo will be with the Niners in 2021.”
Listen to the full interview below.