San Francisco 49ers: 5 bold predictions for 2021 NFL Draft

49ers Prediction No. 3: Jimmy Garoppolo ends up being a draft-day trade

So far, San Francisco has made it apparent it intends to keep veteran quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo around for one more year, and there are good reasons why the 49ers would want to go this route.

For starters, as 2019 showed, a healthy Jimmy G can be good enough to carry the Niners to a Super Bowl. Second, Kyle Shanahan’s playbook is awfully complex, and thrusting a rookie like Justin Fields into the fray right out of the gate could be difficult.

Both of those elements are true. Yet there are also good reasons why San Francisco would consider moving Garoppolo sooner than later, perhaps as early as the draft itself.

The 49ers need to generate cap space to extend All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner and to eventually do the same with EDGE Nick Bosa, and neither move will come cheaply. The more cash the Niners generate now and potentially roll over, the better. And by moving Garoppolo via a draft-day trade, San Francisco not only winds up with something in return, probably a third-round pick, but also would free up $23.6 million in cap space, per Over the Cap.

Josh Schrock of NBC Sports Bay Area recently listed out some possible trade destinations for Jimmy G this offseason, and the entire quarterbacking market will be altered anyway after Round 1, potentially adding to the mix of teams who were hoping to land “their next guy.”

As far as being bold goes, let’s go ahead and predict the 49ers act now instead of later and trade Garoppolo in the middle of the draft.