Kyle Shanahan On Possibly Trading Jimmy Garoppolo: We’ll Do What’s Best For 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers are in a tough spot with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, and head coach Kyle Shanahan said at the annual league meeting Tuesday that the quarterback's shoulder surgery made things “a little bit tougher.”

Although the team is facing some complications when it comes to Garoppolo’s trade market, the organization plans to maximize Garoppolo’s value.

“Everything’s good with Jimmy,” Shanahan said. “Anytime someone gets a surgery, especially on their throwing shoulder, teams are going to be a little more nervous with what they want to offer and things like that. So I think that did put it on hold. And we’re alright with that. We went through the free agent period, so we had to make some adjustments and do some things like that, but we’ve got him on the books right now and we’ll keep it that way until something else can improve us.”

The head coach didn't rule out leaving the veteran quarterback on the roster in 2022, but all signs indicate the team is ready to move on to the No. 3 overall pick in last year's draft, Trey Lance.

“That’s why we looked into trading Jimmy, because we obviously believe that Trey can be a starter,” Shanahan said. “And we’re ready to do that. But if we can’t upgrade our team in another way, we’re not just going to get rid of a good quarterback because we have other quarterbacks on the roster."

“We know we have all guys who are capable of starting — which, Jimmy’s done a great job for us. We brought Trey here to be that eventually. And I think that’ll be sooner than later, but Jimmy gets the surgery and we can’t upgrade our team by getting some good picks until people feel good about that, I’m alright with that," he said. "We’re not just getting rid of him to get rid of him. Jimmy’s a good player that we all like as a person and as a teammate and we’re going to wait to see whatever helps the Niners the most."

Numerous reports state that Garoppolo had his shoulder surgery without consulting with the team, making previously interested teams slightly less interested and rumors surfaced he was likely to get cut. With the QB in the last year of his contract, Spotrac’s website shows that cutting the QB would leave behind $1.4 million in dead money and create more than $25 million in cap space.

Shanahan said he expects Garoppolo to be with the team if he's still on the roster by the time training camp starts.

Garoppolo is unlikely to be able to throw until the time camp rolls around, regardless. The head coach didn't specify if there would be a QB competition if he remains on the roster, but it isn't a problem he seems to be thinking about right now.

“We’re willing to do anything — the best we can do for the Niners,” Shanahan said. “The good thing is we don’t have to decide it today. We’re trying to see what the best thing is for the Niners and having a good quarterback like Jimmy is not a bad thing. Being able to upgrade our roster by getting draft picks is a really good thing. What’s the timeline on that? It’s different when you get surgery. So that’s what we’re all dealing with. That’s really as simple as it is.”