49ers rumors: Jimmy Garoppolo trade more likely now, per Peter King

The 49ers were reportedly interested in trading Jimmy Garoppolo for a first-round pick, but Peter King thinks the Niners have softened their asking price.

There are a lot of reasons why the San Francisco 49ers would want to hold onto quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in 2021 despite their recent trade-up to No. 3 overall in the NFL Draft for a future signal-caller.

For starters, whichever quarterback the Niners select may not be totally ready to start in Week 1 right away, particularly in head coach Kyle Shanahan’s notoriously complex offense. On top of that, Garoppolo’s trade value isn’t particularly high right now after he missed all but six games last year because of ankle injuries, putting together two seasons out of three where he missed the bulk of the year by being hurt. So, at least the hope would be, trying to get at least one productive year out of Jimmy G would be an idea Shanahan and the 49ers could consider.

Perhaps not, though.

Earlier reports from this offseason said the Niners would only entertain moving Garoppolo for a first-round pick. But according to NBC Sports’ Peter King’s Football Morning in America post from April 26, he thinks San Francisco is in a position to lessen its asking price:

"It won’t surprise me if the Niners make Jimmy Garoppolo more available than he’s been. In other words, instead of trying to get a first-round pick for him, maybe considering taking a two for him. I wonder if the Patriots would deal the 46th pick in the draft, or their second-rounder in 2022, for their old friend."

There’s sense behind that, too.

Garoppolo could easily want out, and the idea of him reuniting with head coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots is nothing new. Plus, from San Francisco’s vantage point, moving Garoppolo sooner than later would surely avoid any media circus that’ll inevitably begin once a rookie quarterback is in the fray. The moment a 49ers-starting Garoppolo has a bad game or suffers some kind of injury, that conversation will be the focal point in many a postgame presser.

And it wasn’t as if Shanahan and general manager John Lynch’s pre-draft presser offered up much of an endorsement, specifically with Shanahan saying “I can’t guarantee that anybody in the world will be alive Sunday” when asked if Garoppolo would be on the roster come Sunday after the draft.

49ers probably wouldn’t get a first-round pick for Jimmy Garoppolo anyway

The thought of the Niners receiving a first-round pick for Garoppolo was almost laughable anyway, perhaps nothing more than Shanahan and general manager John Lynch attempting their best to “sell high” even if no other team was that desperate just yet to offer up a Round 1 pick as compensation.

True, the proverbial “dust” settling from the 2021 draft could shake things up a bit, leading to a quarterback-needy team that missed on its favorite signal-calling prospect to get into a bidding war for Garoppolo’s services.

Still, a first-round selection seems awfully high for a player who has dealt with serious injuries in two of the last three years.

That’s where King’s assessment has some merit. A second rounder in return is probably the ceiling for anything another team, including New England, would offer for Jimmy G. And even that might be a stretch, considering the Patriots would have to take on Garoppolo’s $23.6 million cap hit for this season with only $16.1 million in cap space, per Over the Cap.

The cap jockeying alone could make the Pats less eager on a would-be trade, thereby lessening the offer price.

Either way, King’s analysis is based largely on what happens in the draft anyway. If the Patriots get someone like Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, as unlikely as that seems with their current draft spot (No. 15 overall), the need for them to make a trade with the 49ers would become a moot point.

And for what it’s worth, King has the Niners selecting Alabama quarterback Mac Jones at No. 3 overall.