SF 49ers must think long term and move on from Jimmy Garoppolo

After another full season lost due to injury, the SF 49ers need to look into the future and move on from Jimmy Garoppolo.

The 2020 SF 49ers season is like the ending of Avengers: Endgame. You know when Thanos snaps his fingers and says “I am… inevitable.” And then nothing happens.

Thanos represents SF 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, and Iron Man (Tony Stark) is the future.

Apologies if you had plans to watch the movie and it’s spoiled. But it’s been out for a few years now, by the way

At any rate, Garoppolo had the world revolving around him last season. He had all the gems in his hand and was ready to completely dominate the next five years in the Bay Area. Unfortunately, when he snapped his fingers, nothing positive happened and everything started falling apart. It started after a rusty Week 1 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, then he got injured against the New York Jets, tried to come back against the Miami Dolphins but failed.

And now after a couple of games, he’s heading back to injured reserve and possibly played his last game in San Francisco.

With only one full season, albeit a successful 2019 under his belt, the SF 49ers need to analyze where they want to be in the future and part ways with Garoppolo. If he can’t stay healthy, there‘s no reason to keep him on the team.

Garoppolo is a winning quarterback, yes. He’s won 22 games with the Niners, which is more than the organization had from 2015 through 2018 (17 wins during that timeframe). His pass percentage is nearly 70, he’s thrown for close to 50 touchdowns and almost 10,000 yards with San Francisco.

But sadly, he can’t seem to stay healthy.

In 2018 he tore his ACL in the third game of the year, and this season he’s been dealing with two high-ankle sprains, which is now officially sidelining him indefinitely.

As a Jimmy G “stan” and someone who bought his Super Bowl jersey in the offseason, it’s hard to admit both sides must move on. He’s been a class act during his time here, he’s lead the team to its first Super Bowl in seven years and he has a special bond with his teammates and fans alike.

However, after watching sports and football for over 20 years, you become numb to the fact this is a business. Your favorite team will inevitably release your favorite player(s) and life moves on.

The quarterback is one of, if not the most important player on the team. He’s the locker room leader, the one who takes all the blame for a loss but passes the praise around for a win. He needs to be on the field when called upon. If he’s only watching from the sidelines, what good is he really?

Now, this potential move isn’t all on Garoppolo. His coach seems to have a hard time trusting his abilities, and it’s shown a lot this year. Head coach Kyle Shanahan seems to have lost whatever belief he had in Garoppolo early in the year because some of the play calls have been extremely questionable.

This is when the dominos effect comes into play. If Shanahan doesn’t trust Garoppolo, the QB stops trusting other players (wide receiver Dante Pettis, the offensive line, etc.), and he eventually losses faith in himself.

There’s also the fundamentals of football. Being accurate on both intermediate and deep throws, not hesitating when under pressure, and being able to throw off your back foot.

It would be best for Garoppolo to find a team that believes in the 29-year-old (possibly the New England Patriots), and for the SF 49ers to look towards the 2021 NFL Draft and free agency.

The should’ve-been 2019 Comeback Player of the Year, still has two years left on his contract. With the 49ers already in a tight cap situation, moving his chunk of change will open up a lot of wiggle room to find a replacement and then some — $24.1 million in generated space next season, per Over the Cap.

Now, the other side of the argument is to keep him around for another year and see what he can do with another full season ahead. But you have to think, general manager John Lynch and the 49ers don’t want to waste another year.

The NFC is a dog-eat-dog conference. If you’re not improving every offseason, you’ll find yourself left in the dust. Like Spider-Man in Avengers: Endgame. He started turning into dust and became irrelevant.

If you’re on the fence about moving on from Jimmy G, former SF 49ers great and the last quarterback to lead the team to a Super Bowl win, Steve Young, also said it’s time to move on.

Whether you like Garoppolo or truly think he’s the worst quarterback to ever exist, you can’t deny the 2019 season wasn’t a blast. You can’t deny when he’s healthy and when his team is fully together, they make up one of the best offenses in the game.

As the credits start to scroll on the screen, the memories of 2019 flash before our eyes. The 8-0 start. The New Orleans miracle. The shredding of the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship. All of this was with Jimmy Garoppolo as the quarterback.

It’s time to start another movie with a new lead character.