SF 49ers: 5 things fans can be thankful for in 2020
By Peter Panacy
No. 2: SF 49ers have flexibility with Jimmy Garoppolo
Look, there are plenty of things that could happen with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in 2021. It’s possible Kyle Shanahan is too frustrated with him to justify keeping the quarterback around for another season. It’s also possible Shanahan understands “if not Garoppolo, who else?”
Sometimes it’s the proverbial “devil you know.”
While the speculation and controversy is one thing, it’s actually a good situation for San Francisco to be in.
The SF 49ers could get out from under Garoppolo’s contract this offseason at a cap savings of $24.1 million. Or they could retain Jimmy G, knowing 2020 clearly didn’t go either his way or the team’s way, and his annual average value of $27.5 million is still just 13th on the list of quarterbacks.
Considering how quarterback values are only going to increase, his contract signed back in 2018 is looking like a steal even if his onfield play hasn’t been spectacular this season before suffering his own injury.
This isn’t the case where the Niners are locked into Jimmy G for the next two or three years at an exorbitant cost with zero outs.
That’s reason enough to be thankful.