Jimmy Garoppolo: Why 49ers should trade QB in 2021, not 2022

Rumors are Jimmy Garoppolo will stay with the 49ers this year, but it makes more sense to move him now for cap space and possible recouping of picks.

Well, it’s almost a foregone conclusion now that whatever happens during the NFL Draft, the San Francisco 49ers will have a nice shiny toy at quarterback.

A massive trade with the Miami Dolphins for the No. 3 overall pick will alter the course of this franchise for years, potentially even a decade or more. Get your Zach Wilson or Justin Fields jersey on standby quickly, folks, they’re sure to be quick sellers from the moment the pick is made.

But that leaves us with incumbent quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and where he stands with the organization. The Niners have been publicly supportive of his position within the team and rubbished claims he wasn’t the 49ers starting quarterback for 2021, but this was before San Francisco made a franchise-altering trade with Miami.

Now, sure. The 49ers could keep Garoppolo on board as the starting quarterback while they wait for whomever the No. 3 overall pick will be to develop. Garoppolo is definitely not the worst idea for a bridge quarterback.

But it simply doesn’t make sense to keep him around when you consider both the salary cap as well as draft considerations.

Here’s why.

Cutting or trading Jimmy Garoppolo would save a lot of cap room for 49ers

The math of this is very simple yet significant. If the 49ers keep Garoppolo, then they’re on the hook for $25.5 million. If they cut Garoppolo, however, then only $2.8 million is on the hook for San Francisco.

I get that you didn’t come here to do the math. So that’s $22.7 million saved for San Francisco off the bat.

Even better, if the Niners can trade Garoppolo and hand the contract to someone else. With the news the New England Patriots are still interested despite signing quarterback Cam Newton to a one-year deal, a move for Jimmy G could be worked out there as well.

San Francisco has done well to save cap space and keep a good number of key players like left tackle Trent Williams while also adding center Alex Mack, but the 49ers still have some work to do.

Extending All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner is at the top of that list.

Rolling in 2021 with a rookie and a cheap-but-dependable backup saves a lot of money and allows the Niners to make these moves.

49ers have to make moves to get back draft capital, Jimmy Garoppolo can help

San Francisco swapped first-round picks with the Dolphins in 2021 and handed over two more first-rounders and a 2022 third-rounder.

It’s hefty, but not unreasonable given the going rate for picking a potential franchise quarterback.

Now, it’s up to the 49ers to get some picks back to build around whoever the future QB is.

Let’s be clear. They’re not going to get all of these picks back in a would-be Garoppolo trade. It’d be a miracle if they could even get one first-rounder for him.

But if they received a couple of day-two picks from the Patriots for him, then that’d be more than acceptable. It’d go a long way towards easing the gap in picks and take Garoppolo’s cap hit off to boot.

Whether or not the Niners decide to keep Garoppolo in 2021, there’s one thing we know for certain: San Francisco didn’t make this move not to pick a quarterback. Who will be the future of the franchise? We shall see.