Early 49ers 53-man roster predictions following 2022 NFL Draft

49ers Quarterbacks (2)

QB Trey Lance

QB Nate Sudfeld

All signs appear to point towards the 49ers rolling with second-year quarterback Trey Lance for 2022 and hopefully years to come.

Sure, you can talk all you want about how much Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers sat behind Hall of Famer Brett Favre, or even Jimmy Garoppolo‘s tenure waiting in the wings for Tom Brady with the New England Patriots way back when, but those situations were slightly different.

The trade-up to grab Lance at no.3 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft signaled the former North Dakota State Bison would be the man at the helm sooner rather than later.

And while Garoppolo has yet to be traded and the team’s insistence it can run with him on the roster in 2022, the time has come to cut bait and run with Lance.

Is there a possibility that Garoppolo looks out on the quarterback landscape and decides he’s better off staying in San Francisco, even if that means accepting a more backup-friendly restructuring of his contract?

Absolutely.

But for now, the assumption is the Jimmy G ship will have sailed before final roster cuts, leaving Lance and former practice squad QB Nate Sudfeld to man the position for this upcoming season.

Of course, 2022 Mr. Irrelevant, former Iowa State signal-caller Brock Purdy, could throw a wrench into things by outperforming Sudfeld in training camp. But it’s more likely the team opts not to run with two wildly inexperienced players at the game’s most important position, and Purdy ends up on the 49ers’ practice squad this season.