San Francisco 49ers: 3 trade scenarios to move Jimmy Garoppolo
By Peter Panacy
No. 3: 49ers send Jimmy Garoppolo home to the Bears
Jimmy Garoppolo, a northern Illinois native, grew up a Chicago Bears fan.
And it just so happens the Bears whiffed on a major quarterback addition this offseason, apparently coming close to landing Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson but not being able to close the deal.
In the wake of bidding farewell to their former first-round NFL Draft pick, quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, the Bears are now settling on two aging veterans at the position, Nick Foles and the recently acquired Andy Dalton.
Armed with the No. 20 overall pick in this year’s draft, it’s going to be tough for Chicago to land any of the top-end signal-callers unless they, too, execute an aggressive trade like the 49ers just did.
General manager Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy are under a ton of pressure to get the offense in Chicago up to form after the last four years with Trubisky were anything but impressive. And in a bad context with no on-roster options and a less-than-ideal draft position, it’s not hard to see how a player like Garoppolo coming home could provide an instant upgrade.
The Bears probably wouldn’t want to send off a second-round pick solely for Jimmy G, at least not after the quarterback missed the bulk of 2020 with ankle injuries.
But a pick swap in Round 5 helps sweeten the deal, convincing the Bears they should pull the trigger.