Even if the 49ers wanted to, trading Jimmy Garoppolo would prove tough right now. The 49ers quarterback’s stock has never been lower, and he’s six weeks into a deal that pays him $24.2 million.
If they wanted to trade him in the offseason, they would have had at least one suitor according to Seth Wickersham’s new Patriots-centric book, “It’s Better to be Feared.” Wickersham reports that New England was willing to part with a significant draft pick to re-acquire Garoppolo, but that it wasn’t enough for the 49ers.
“There was an informal call between a high-level representative of the Patriots and a high-level 49ers official,” Wickersham writes. “What was Garoppolo’s price? New England wondered if a second-rounder would suffice—calling it even from 2017. But the 49ers wouldn’t take less than a first.
“For the moment, at least, San Francisco was counting on Garoppolo to be the quarterback for 2021. The Patriots reached the same conclusion as San Francisco — they liked the potential of the available first-round quarterbacks more than Garoppolo — and moved on.”
It should be noted that Wickersham’s timeline seems to imply that this trade was offered before the 49ers traded three first-round picks to move up to No. 3 and eventually draft Trey Lance. Still, the news is a bit of a turn of the knife for 49ers fans, who have seen the Garoppolo-led team look mostly listless en route to a 2-4 record to start the season.