4 Jimmy Garoppolo suitors after Baker Mayfield trade to Panthers

The Panthers officially ended any flirting with Jimmy Garoppolo by trading for Baker Mayfield on Wednesday, but Jimmy G could still have some suitors.

On the surface, it sure seems like the San Francisco 49ers’ hopes of trading quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo took a massive blow in the wake of news the Carolina Panthers were trading for disgruntled Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield.

That’s the dominant storyline from an otherwise quiet NFL offseason, news breaking on Wednesday from multiple outlets how Carolina was acquiring an upgrade over incumbent Sam Darnold in Mayfield, who was on the outs in Cleveland following the Browns’ earlier trade pickup of quarterback Deshaun Watson.

Quite the offseason quarterback carousel, right?

Yes, one can officially cross off whatever dwindling hopes the Niners had to ship off Garoppolo to the Panthers now. That won’t happen, if it ever was in the cards anyway.

However, with Mayfield on the move, one could make the argument that Garoppolo is now the last best starting-caliber option available on the trade block. San Francisco no longer has to contend with other teams choosing between Mayfield and Jimmy G.

Granted, the trade market between now and Week 1 might be less than stellar. But these four teams could still possibly be interested in acquiring Garoppolo in the wake of Mayfield’s trade to Carolina.

Jimmy Garoppolo trade suitor No. 4: Cleveland Browns

Just before news broke of Mayfield going to the Panthers, we ran a speculative piece on three trades the 49ers could still engineer to move Garoppolo.

One of them was the Browns.

While a straight-up Garoppolo-for-Mayfield trade is now officially off the table, there’s still a remote chance Cleveland would entertain dealing with the Niners for their quarterback.

Watson, still facing allegations of sexual misconduct, could potentially face a yearlong suspension, which would leave the Browns with few other options other than starting the presumed backup, Jacoby Brissett.

Nothing against Brissett, but it’s feasible Cleveland could look at Garoppolo as a far more polished option with plenty of playoff experience for a playoff-ready Browns team.

Cleveland already had more cap space than any other team in the NFL this offseason, Over the Cap giving them almost $41 million before Mayfield was moved, so it can absorb Garoppolo’s $25.5 million post-trade salary with ease.

Just don’t expect San Francisco to get much in the way of compensation in return, though.

Jimmy Garoppolo trade suitor No. 3: New England Patriots

It sounds crazy, and there’s certainly a strong argument why New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick would never pull the trigger on reuniting with Jimmy Garoppolo via trade. But there’s actually a scenario in which the 49ers and Pats doing a revert on the 2017 deal that originally sent the quarterback out west.

Albeit, this one would be far less of the high-profile variety.

New England isn’t going to shirk away from continuing to develop second-year quarterback Mac Jones. That’s not the argument here. But Jones’ primary backups heading into 2022 consist of Brian Hoyer and Bailey Zappe, neither of whom should be considered as inspiring if Jones is lost for any length of time.

Without diving too deep into the apparent affinity Belichick had/has for Garoppolo, a major obstacle would be the Patriots boasting just $1.9 million in cap space, currently, meaning any trade would either have to stem from the Niners agreeing to pay a large chunk of Jimmy G’s salary, as the Browns are doing with Baker Mayfield, or Garoppolo taking a substantial pay cut upon his arrival in New England.

Again, the trade compensation might be minimal, and San Francisco might prefer to cut Garoppolo outright and save $25-plus million over getting a late-round NFL Draft pick in return.

But, if the 49ers want to send Garoppolo to a decent situation, this could certainly be in play.

Jimmy Garoppolo trade suitor No. 2: Houston Texans

A former Patriots executive, now-Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio, also has ties to Jimmy Garoppolo, and we haven’t wholly been able to cross off the Texans as a potential trade partner for Jimmy G.

For good reason, too, as Houston appears fully poised to let second-year signal-caller Davis Mills give it his best shot in 2022 amid what’ll likely be a lengthy rebuild for the Texans.

Nothing wrong with that approach, but it might not hurt entirely for Houston to have some sort of competition for this job, or at the very least, a veteran mentor for the former Stanford quarterback.

Again, as will be the trend for any presumed trade for Garoppolo from this point onward, the Niners aren’t going to get much in return in the way of compensation. And with just over $9 million in salary-cap space, Houston would either need to ask San Francisco to pay a portion of the salary, have Garoppolo take a pay cut or engineer some notable roster jockeying to fit in the financials.

Any one of these X-factors could be an obstacle, but there’s still a remote chance the Texans view Garoppolo as an upgrade over Mills, prompting a slightly better chance to at least be competitive in a relatively weak AFC South this season.

Jimmy Garoppolo trade suitor No. 1: Seattle Seahawks

Want to get controversial? Here you go.

Inter-division trades are extremely rare, and there are few situations where the 49ers would want to assist the Seattle Seahawks in any way, particularly in light of the Hawks going through a massive reformation in the wake of moving quarterback Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos earlier this offseason.

However, one could make the argument the reason why the Niners haven’t released Jimmy Garoppolo outright is because they fear Seattle will simply leap at the opportunity to sign him, automatically getting an upgrade over its two projected signal-callers, Drew Lock and Geno Smith.

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If this is actually the case, why wouldn’t San Francisco attempt a trade and at least get something in return? That’s the part where a Garoppolo trade to the Seahawks has some merit.

With $16.4 million in cap space, the Hawks would have some challenges, although parting ways with Smith helps free up approximately $3 million. And the 49ers would, at the very minimum, command late-round draft compensation as opposed to getting nothing in return yet watching Garoppolo possibly sign a free-agent deal with Seattle instead.

Likely? That’s still a no. However, should such a trade take place, one shouldn’t be entirely blindsided by it.