What the 49ers’ offseason plan would look like without Jimmy Garoppolo
By Peter Panacy
Niner Noise plays some revisionist history and examines what the San Francisco 49ers’ 2018 offseason would look like if quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo wasn’t in the picture.
I don’t like “what ifs?” because they aren’t reality. And, fortunately, the San Francisco 49ers don’t have to ask “what if” regarding their quarterback situation.
They have Jimmy Garoppolo, either for 2018 on a franchise tag or for the long run after a multi-year deal is reached. Either way, the Niners have their quarterback situation figured out.
And it’s changed the makeup and future of the entire franchise.
San Francisco 49ers
But what if they didn’t? What if, let’s say, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick never texted 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan prior to the 2017 NFL trade deadline? Or what if Belichick was more inclined to get a heftier return for Garoppolo’s services, dishing him out to the Cleveland Browns for what would have assuredly been for more than a second-round draft pick?
Then where would the Niners be?
The simple answer is close to square one. Very close.
Shanahan and general manager John Lynch’s roster would have had a few pieces in place. But that would have been it. You would have seen then-rookie quarterback C.J. Beathard lead a Niners offense averaging 26.6 yards per drive, rather than the Garoppolo-led 42.1 mark over the final five games of 2017.
With a 1-10 record heading into Week 13, maybe the 49ers beat the Chicago Bears. Maybe. But probably not the Houston Texans and their pass rush, and certainly not the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars in Weeks 15 and 16, respectively. Heck, even the Los Angeles Rams B-team would have been a tall order to close out the regular season.
So the 49ers would have finished the year with one, perhaps two wins and a top-two pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
And no clear-cut plan under center.
Making Quarterback the No. 1 49ers Priority
Lynch and Shanahan didn’t panic when they had zero QBs under contract entering 2017. They didn’t use their No. 2 overall pick in the draft to reach, like the Bears did with Mitchell Trubisky, nor did they offer up said pick in a veteran trade.
Essentially the Shanahan-Lynch tandem put off the quarterbacking problem for a year. Without Garoppolo in the picture, the need would be crystal clear entering 2018.
The first possible route would have been free agency. We would be hearing nothing but storylines associated with Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins heading to San Francisco in 2018, much like the rumors that existed in springtime of last year. After all, the 49ers had the cap space to make a lucrative deal work. And Cousins has his ties to Shanahan from the latter’s time in Washington.
Other free-agent names could have been in the mix too. Drew Brees, Case Keenum, Sam Bradford and Jay Cutler are all relatively high-profile QBs who could have been on Shanahan’s radar.
But given how much San Francisco went with a youth movement in 2017, the NFL Draft would have likely been a more realistic option.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. recently released his first mock draft of the offseason. The 49ers would have been picking high, likely at No. 2 behind the winless Browns. Assuming the Browns went with Kiper’s pick here, Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen, the Niners would have their choice of any other QB in this year’s class.
That’s what the talk of the offseason would be — which quarterback is to Shanahan’s liking? Who has the most upside? Which prospect best fits the risk-versus-reward-versus-value criteria analysts and pundits alike measure?
All the while, the 49ers’ rebuild phase would only just be getting out of its initial stages.
Jimmy Garoppolo the Difference Maker
Who knows how 2018 would have started if Belichick didn’t offer up Garoppolo to the 49ers.
Perhaps former Niners quarterback Brian Hoyer would have regained the starting job over Beathard, all the while leaving some rookie QB marinating and developing on the bench. Or, possibly, Beathard gets the call to start in 2018. Maybe San Francisco would be slightly better than a would-have-been 2-14 record in 2017. But not by much.
Most notably, we’d be looking at a still-lengthy rebuild in Santa Clara. Year two of the Lynch-Shanahan combo might have shown some movement in the right direction.
It still wouldn’t have been enough to suggest a massive turnaround, though.
More from Niner Noise
- 49ers 2023 NFL Draft tracker: Pick-by-pick news and analysis
- Predicting 49ers NFL Draft picks by looking at final mocks
- DraftKings NFL Draft Promo – Win $150 Guaranteed on Any $5 Bet
- 2023 NFL Draft: EDGE Byron Young could be impact player for 49ers
- 5 low-key NFL Draft options for 49ers who are flying under the radar
Fortunately, all this is conjecture we no longer have to consider. Garoppolo is in a 49ers uniform, and there are more than a few experts believing the Niners may actually contend for a playoff berth this upcoming season.
Simply put, Garoppolo’s addition sped up San Francisco’s rebuild by at least a full year. Perhaps more.
Still armed with the league’s highest amount of salary cap space this offseason, paired with a top-10 pick in the NFL Draft, Lynch and Shanahan can focus their attention on other pressing needs rather than worry about landing their franchise quarterback of the future.
Next: 5 offseason roster moves the 49ers should make in 2018
And that’s a pretty big difference in of itself.