49ers roster: Jimmy Garoppolo and his uncertain future

Why 49ers elect to keep Jimmy Garoppolo in 2022

Jimmy Garoppolo couldn’t physically partake in organized team activities, and the Niners also excused him from mandatory minicamp, meaning Trey Lance is getting all the first-team reps during offseason practices so far.

That’s important, as Lance will be developing that needed chemistry with his starters between now and when Garoppolo is scheduled to start throwing again, training camp.

It doesn’t seem like a plausible solution, but San Francisco has reportedly worked out the scenario where it keeps Jimmy G on the roster in 2022 but assumes Lance will be QB1 for the entire year.

The only way this works is for the 49ers to not find a trade partner between now and Week 1 and to engineer some sort of re-negotiated contract, one where the Niners ask him to take a significant pay cut but still provide him with the $1.4 million guaranteed he’s scheduled to earn anyway.

A sort-of “accept this deal or we cut you” kind of move.

Now, Garoppolo might not want to accept this. However, he might be in a situation where taking a backup role in 2022 could mean bigger and better things when the quarterbacking landscape looks awfully different a little less than a year from now.

More on that in a moment, but following this route would have merit for San Francisco. For starters, the 49ers would have a starting-caliber option in case Lance flames out or suffers an injury, thereby keeping a playoff window open, and it might also safeguard against Lance succumbing to the notable lack of experience many a pundit has already pointed out.

The Niners surely wouldn’t re-sign Garoppolo in 2023, and he’d likely sign a free-agent deal elsewhere that would net them a compensatory NFL Draft pick the following year, perhaps a selection higher than what San Francisco could have gained via trade.

Is that likely, though?