Most assume — including Jimmy Garoppolo — that this is the 49ers quarterback’s final season with the club. Garoppolo’s $25 million for next year isn’t guaranteed, and far too much a price tag with Trey Lance in the fold.
Most also assume that Lance will be the starter next season, making the use of having Garoppolo around far less necessary.
KNBR’s Greg Papa isn’t as convinced.
“Financially I acknowledge it’s going to be difficult to bring back Jimmy Garoppolo at $25 million a year, I understand that,” Papa said on “Papa and Lund” Wednesday. “But let’s just see how he plays, let’s just see what the league thinks of him…I think (the 49ers) want to make good for Jimmy.
“If (Garoppolo’s agent) Don Yee gets a job for Jimmy that pays him two-years, $50 million-plus, if he can get $30 million guaranteed, if I’m the 49ers I would think of offering him a three-year contract at $12 million a year to be on this roster. We can’t pay you $25 million a year, but we’d like you to be in a combination with Trey Lance.
“I can’t think of anybody in that building that dislikes him. I can’t think of anybody on planet Earth that dislikes Jimmy Garoppolo. He’s just that kind of guy.”
Keeping Garoppolo would only make sense if the veteran would actually be in the mix to play next year, considering both his potential price tag and what the 49ers could get for him in a trade. The better Garoppolo plays this postseason, the more he’s potentially worth on the open market and the more the 49ers would need to pay to keep him. Papa believes it would be worth trying to figure out.
“I want a way where Jimmy Garoppolo is a part of this going forward,” Papa continued. “I understand financially that is really hard to do, but if you take the dollars out of it, if there was a way to work it out, maybe you guarantee more money. I just couldn’t think of a better person to be in that room with (Trey). There’s not one, there’s not a person you would bring in from the outside world to play in combination with Trey Lance. And just let them go play.
“This football team would not be in the position they are in now if it weren’t for Jimmy Garoppolo. And Jimmy had to battle through injuries, and a lot of those interceptions he threw were a product of the bad thumb, certainly the last three have been in some regard.
“I don’t know where it’s going to go, but the whole league is watching, they are hiring new GMs now in a lot of cities, Chicago being one, they just drafted a quarterback, I don’t know what they are going to do there. There’s going to be openings for him. Will he get a starting job next year? That will depend how he plays Sunday and beyond, and what kind of money are we talking about, and is there a way to spread that out, and guarantee him that same kind of money here to be in a role with Trey. Because they get along so well.
“Trey speaks glowingly of Jimmy, and how he has mentored him. And then Jimmy around Trey, how he is so selfless to get him ready to play that Houston game, it just speaks volumes to who this guy is. I don’t know if they can do it, it’s probably financially unrealistic, but if there’s a way for Paraag Marathe to put this together to satisfy all, I for one would not want to see Jimmy Garoppolo leave this franchise.”
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