5 teams that could land Jimmy Garoppolo after Russell Wilson trade
By Peter Panacy
With Russell Wilson going to the Broncos, the 49ers may look to move Jimmy Garoppolo in the very near future, and these teams may be interested now.
The San Francisco 49ers have to be absolutely ecstatic with the news of the Seattle Seahawks engineering a blockbuster trade with the Denver Broncos that’ll send multiple-time Pro Bowl quarterback Russell Wilson off to the AFC West.
Wilson has long owned the Niners, yes, posting a career 17-4 record against San Francisco.
Yet there’s another reason why the 49ers can be overjoyed with Wilson heading off to Denver.
It opens up the door for them to finally trade quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
In correlation with the other massive news item from this week, the Green Bay Packers signing quarterback Aaron Rodgers to a new four-year deal, the biggest two quarterbacking dominos have since fallen, and there are relatively few remaining starting-caliber options under center despite a significant number of teams out there in need of quality signal-callers.
Early on, it appeared as if the Niners’ trade efforts of Garoppolo were awfully quiet. But with Rodgers locked up and Wilson on his way to Denver, San Francisco should have a much easier time moving Garoppolo now.
And these five teams may now be in on the hunt in a much bigger way.
Jimmy Garoppolo suitor No. 5: Indianapolis Colts
Editor’s update: The Indianapolis Colts are reportedly trading quarterback Carson Wentz to the Washington Commanders, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, altering Indy’s needs but likely negating those of Washington.
It might be reasonable to cross off a number of AFC teams as potential trade partners with the 49ers for Jimmy G, as that conference is now even more loaded with top-performing quarterbacks. Particularly the AFC West, which now has Wilson in tow along with the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes and the Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert.
Yet the AFC South is still lackluster when it comes to quality quarterbacks, and the Tennessee Titans’ Ryan Tannehill isn’t exactly a top-tier performer.
The Indianapolis Colts haven’t so quietly admitted their frustrations with last year’s pickup, Carson Wentz, and it wouldn’t be shocking whatsoever to see them move on from him this offseason. The Colts do have a playoff-caliber roster on both sides of the ball, and the AFC South remains an open division.
Someone like Garoppolo could, at the very least, help get Indy back into the playoff picture where, essentially, anything can happen. While the Colts wouldn’t be favored to knock off a Chiefs team or even the Buffalo Bills with quarterback Josh Allen in a postseason bout, they’d at least have a much more favorable shot at getting there than they would with Wentz.