49ers rumors: Patriots still in pursuit of Jimmy Garoppolo

The Patriots don’t seem to be giving up on 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, according to the latest on the NFL offseason rumor mill.

There’s still smoke around San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo despite general manager John Lynch remaining committed to his starting signal-caller heading into 2021.

The Niners were awfully active in retaining many of their pending free agents this offseason. And while the flurry of moves required Lynch and Co. rework some contracts with other on-roster players, one of the moves conspicuously absent was a would-be restructure or extension for Garoppolo.

Whether or not that’s an indicator of San Francisco potentially shopping Jimmy G, who missed all but five games last year with high-ankle sprains, is anyone’s guess.

But according to a recent report from ESPN’s Dianna Russini (h/t WEEI.com), Garoppolo’s former team, the New England Patriots, is still looking to make a move for the quarterback:

"Just recently I was talking to somebody in the league who I really trust. He’s got good information. He said, “Do not take the Jimmy Garoppolo trade off the table.” That is something New England is still sniffing out. Bill [Belichick] doesn’t like to put his cards out on the table so most think if we all know about that it probably won’t happen, but there is definitely a tone in the league that it could still go down."

The Patriots already re-signed quarterback Cam Newton to another one-year deal, but his contract shouldn’t prevent New England from trying to onboard the $23-plus million Garoppolo is scheduled to earn this season.

Up to this point, according to other reports, the 49ers haven’t entertained any Patriots trade requests. So, even if New England is still trying, it doesn’t automatically mean the Niners are planning on shipping Garoppolo back to the Pats anyway.

What’s the 49ers’ end game with Jimmy Garoppolo, a starting quarterback?

Much of the speculation, including what WEEI pointed out, is San Francisco would trade Garoppolo back to New England, then make a deal with the New York Jets for their starting quarterback, Sam Darnold, who’ll likely be a lame-duck QB once the Jets follow through on their expected move to grab BYU quarterback Zach Wilson at No. 2 overall in this year’s NFL Draft.

Darnold probably wouldn’t be a long-term solution for the 49ers, so that only answers a part of the question. Armed with the No. 12 overall pick, the Niners could potentially package up whatever is received from New England in a would-be Garoppolo deal to move up higher in the draft order, perhaps with the intent to land a quarterback like Ohio State’s Justin Fields or North Dakota State’s Trey Lance.

There’s also the possibility of another trade for someone else other than Darnold.

If anything, though, San Francisco’s true intention probably won’t be revealed until Round 1 of the NFL Draft kicks off. Lynch’s repeated commitments to Garoppolo won’t automatically rule out the 49ers’ potential interest in upgrading the position.

But that upgrade option has to present itself first.

Even if it doesn’t, the Patriots’ ongoing push for Jimmy G doesn’t seem to be going away.