49ers aren’t quick to trade Jimmy Garoppolo after drafting Trey Lance

The 49ers’ selection of Trey Lance in the NFL Draft all but ensures Jimmy Garoppolo sticks around San Francisco for at least one more year.

It’s amazing how much things can change for the San Francisco 49ers over the span of just a few hours.

Entering day one of the 2021 NFL Draft, the chances of the Niners selecting Alabama quarterback Mac Jones at No. 3 overall were awfully high. Then, as the craziness of the pre-draft hours ensued, the thoughts of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers somehow coming to San Francisco were the talk of the league.

Well, cross those two possibilities off the list for the 49ers. Their new quarterback will be North Dakota State’s Trey Lance.

The soon-to-be 21-year-old Lance played just one game in 2020 before COVID-19 shut the Bisons’ season down. And while Lance’s 2019 campaign was exceptional, it’s understood the rookie will need some time to properly develop.

Meaning the Niners’ current quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, is almost guaranteed to stick around for at least one more season.

“I expect Jimmy to be here and I’d be very surprised if he wasn’t,” head coach Kyle Shanahan told KNBR 680 shortly after San Francisco made the Lance pick. This stands in contrast to the odd comments Shanahan said earlier in the week when he referenced not knowing “who’d be alive” on Sunday when asked if Garoppolo would be on the roster.

Shanahan, too, apologized for misleading with that quote.

Granted, Shanahan might have been playing it soft with Garoppolo, potentially waiting to see how the rest of Round 1 played out and what other teams could either be in or out for Garoppolo’s services right away. Even if it would have come at the expense of potentially starting Lance prematurely.

If that was the case, though, two other teams’ moves in Round 1 also reinforce the likelihood Garoppolo sticks around.

49ers lost potential trade partners for Jimmy Garoppolo, the Bears and Patriots

There were potentially going to be three suitors for Garoppolo this offseason: the Denver Broncos, Chicago Bears and New England Patriots with the Pats being, perhaps, the likeliest of the three. Particularly for those thinking head coach Bill Belichick wanting to reunite with the signal-caller he originally intended to replace now-Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady.

But the Broncos traded with the Carolina Panthers for quarterback Teddy Bridgewater before the draft began.

And then the Bears and Patriots’ subsequent selections of Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields and Jones, respectively, essentially eliminated any possibility Garoppolo would go to either Chicago or New England.

The Patriots were reportedly high suitors for Fields, yet the Bears trading up for Fields from No. 20 to No. 11 in a deal with the New York Giants ultimately led Jones to New England.

Regardless of how the draft classes for the Broncos, Bears and Patriots turn out from this point forward, it’s essentially safe to say none of those teams will have any interest in trading for Garoppolo now.

So that all but ensures Jimmy G will remain in San Francisco for at least another season, although there won’t be any shortage of media speculation asking when Lance, the hopeful future of the franchise, takes over for Garoppolo.