49ers to face challenges after trading for Jimmy Garoppolo

The San Francisco 49ers made a blockbuster trade to land former New England Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. While solid, let’s look at the challenges the Niners may face.

Cross one item off the list of San Francisco 49ers rebuild needs — quarterback.

Well, at least for now.

The Niners executed a blockbuster deal to land former New England Patriots backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in exchange for a second-round NFL Draft pick in 2018. News of the deal was first reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and others Monday night.

San Francisco 49ers /

San Francisco 49ers

On one hand, general manager John Lynch and Co. executed a great deal — picking up a 25-year-old quarterback groomed in the best system the NFL currently has to offer. And considering the Patriots were asking for as much as two first-round picks last offseason, this has to be a steal, right?

Likely. But that doesn’t mean the Niners are without some serious challenges from this point onward.

Overall, the trade seems to be a good one. San Francisco wasn’t getting any sort of success from veteran quarterback Brian Hoyer, who has since been released, nor his rookie replacement, C.J. Beathard. And while Beathard likely remains under center for at least another week, what should be expected from Garoppolo for the rest of the season?

A Relatively Untested Quarterback in a Complex 49ers Offense

Head coach Kyle Shanahan operates one of the most complex offenses in the NFL. This is why many of the Niners’ free-agent pickups last offseason — Hoyer, tight end Logan Paulsen, wide receivers Pierre Garçon and Aldrick Robinson — all had experience working under Shanahan previously.

GLENDALE, AZ – OCTOBER 01: Head coach Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers watches the action during the first half of the NFL game against the Arizona Cardinals at the University of Phoenix Stadium on October 1, 2017 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

Yes, Garoppolo has the benefit of being tutored by future Hall of Famer Tom Brady. But the same could be said of former Patriots backup QB Matt Cassel, who had just one winning season after departing New England after 2008 and has mostly been relegated to backup duties since.

Granted, Garoppolo was touted as a more prolific prospect than Cassel, but the sample size of the former’s on-field abilities remains small:

Jimmy Garoppolo Passing Table
Year	Age	Tm	Pos	G	GS	QBrec	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	Lng	Y/A	AY/A	Y/C	Y/G	Rate	QBR	Sk	Yds
2014	23	NWE		6	0		19	27	70.4	182	1	37	6.7	7.5	9.6	30.3	101.2	22.3	5	36
2015	24	NWE		5	0		1	4	25.0	6	0	6	1.5	1.5	6.0	1.2	39.6	9.0	0	0
2016	25	NWE	qb	6	2	2-0-0	43	63	68.3	502	4	37	8.0	9.2	11.7	83.7	113.3	89.9	3	15
Care	Care			17	2	2-0-0	63	94	67.0	690	5	37	7.3	8.4	11.0	40.6	106.2		8	51

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/31/2017.

A likely upgrade over Hoyer and Beathard, yes. But one shouldn’t immediately assume Garoppolo finds immediate success under Shanahan. The quarterback went from a Super Bowl-winning team to a 0-8 franchise in only the early steps of a long rebuild.

The Obvious On-Field Problems

There’s enough tape on Garoppolo to suggest he can enjoy serious success as a full-time starter. Check out the video below for some serious proof:

As noted earlier, though, the Niners lack serious talent on offense. San Francisco’s offensive line ranks 20th in pass protection, according to Football Outsiders, whereas the Pats boasted the sixth-best pass-protecting O-line last year during Garoppolo’s six games played.

It’s safe to say Brady is among the tier of quarterbacks who can carry their respective teams largely regardless of the talent level surrounding them.

Ideally, Garoppolo turns into one of these kinds of signal-callers. But those are rare finds, and the 49ers lack talent at the skill positions and along the O-line, which may hinder the quarterback’s transition to a full-time starter.

In short, Garoppolo improves the offense. But it’s premature to say he’s going to be a difference maker.

Looming Free Agency for Jimmy Garoppolo

One of the question marks about the trade would be why San Francisco would give up a second-round pick for a player it likely could have targeted in free agency.

Garoppolo, after all, is playing the final year of his rookie contract and is scheduled to hit the open market in 2018. Considering the investment made, it’s highly unlikely Lynch and Shanahan let Garoppolo reach that point. One of the likely reasons they made the trade was to keep Garoppolo away from a high-profile bidding war this offseason, perhaps involving QB-needy teams like the Cleveland Browns, Arizona Cardinals or Denver Broncos, to name a few.

That means San Francisco is in position to sign Garoppolo to a long-term extension. But it also means Garoppolo’s camp is in a prime spot to negotiate a lucrative deal.

Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith explained further:

"The 49ers wouldn’t have traded a second-round pick for Garoppolo if they didn’t either already have an understanding with him about what it would take to get him signed to a long-term contract, or have plans to put the franchise tag on him in March. The franchise tag would guarantee him a 2018 salary of somewhere around $25 million, so he’d be crazy to sign for anything less than $25 million up front. One way or the other, Garoppolo is going to be a very rich man within the next five months."

According to Over the Cap, the Niners will have roughly $56.8 million in cap space in 2018. Combine that with an estimated $60.7 in 2017 cap space to be rolled over, the amount at Lynch’s disposal could be around $117.5 million.

The Niners can afford it, so this isn’t a bad thing, per se. Just an obstacle to consider.

Good Deal, Bad Deal?

The negatives are pretty straight forward. Garoppolo is a relatively unproven commodity, who shortly benefited from playing under Brady and Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. That upped Garoppolo’s value for sure.

Will that translate into success in San Francisco? Who knows.

But it isn’t as if the Niners mortgaged the future on the quarterback right away. A high second-round pick (likely between Nos. 33 and 36) is tough to give up. Yet San Francisco still has another pick in Round 2 — the New Orleans Saints’ selection.

More from Niner Noise

The biggest boost, however, is the trade negates the need for Lynch to use his first-overall pick to reach for a prospect quarterback. Remember all those other teams in need of a franchise signal-caller?

Well, San Francisco’s top pick just got a lot more attractive after this deal.

The 49ers can now feel comfortable moving down in Round 1 in an attempt to address the many other areas of need and supply talent to surround their new quarterback.

It’s a game plan we haven’t seen from the Niners in some time, and it makes sense.

Next: 49ers stock watch after Week 8 loss to Eagles

Let’s just hope Garoppolo ends up thriving within that plan.

Challenges the 49ers will face after trading for quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo

By Peter Panacy | Oct 31, 2017