What a Jimmy Garoppolo trade to NY Giants would look like

The Giants have emerged as possible trade suitors for Jimmy Garoppolo, and here’s what a would-be transaction might look like between the G-Men and 49ers.

The San Francisco 49ers have been actively pursuing a trade to send off veteran quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo before the 2022 regular season begins.

We know this because of reports that Garoppolo’s camp received permission from the Niners to seek a trade. San Francisco’s top brass essentially confirmed such at the opening press conference ahead of training camp.

No news there.

However, one of the teams that could potentially be in on Garoppolo’s services this upcoming season is the New York Giants, a bit of a late contender in the wake of so much speculation about where the quarterback could go if the 49ers found a suitable trade partner.

According to Marco Martinez of the 49ers RedZone Podcast, speaking to 49ers Webzone’s Rohan Chakravarthi, Garoppolo’s camp has been in discussions with the G-Men about a possible trade.

Why NY Giants would want Jimmy Garoppolo

New York invested in a high-profile quarterback, Daniel Jones, at No. 6 overall back in the 2019 NFL Draft. Despite having been in the league for three seasons now and the Giants doing their best to support him with a decent offensive cast, Jones has nevertheless continued to flounder, frequently plagued by turnovers and a whopping 36 fumbles during that three-year span.

The G-Men elected not to pick up Jones’ fifth-year option for 2023, meaning he’ll be a free agent once the season concludes, and it’s highly likely first-year head coach Brian Daboll wants to identify his own quarterback instead of rolling with the one he inherited earlier this offseason.

Sure, Garoppolo might not be a long-term answer either. But, amid a still-weak NFC East and with Daboll wanting to take advantage of a still-respectable offensive cast and solid offseason otherwise, Garoppolo would serve as an immediate upgrade.

How 49ers would trade Jimmy Garoppolo to NY Giants

New York owns all of its 2023 draft picks between Rounds 1 and 5, and it’s also armed with two seventh-round picks.

Still not likely to receive a hefty return for Garoppolo, the Niners may nevertheless be comfortable accepting a fourth- or even a fifth-round pick, should the Giants elect to absorb all of Jimmy G’s $24.2 million base salary.

Considering the G-Men have only $5.43 million in cap space, though, it’s not likely that would happen.

New York won’t trade for Garoppolo outright. That much is for certain. But, by trading away Jones, the Giants would clear over $4 million in cap savings.

Now, San Francisco wouldn’t have to keep Jones on its own roster, especially with backup quarterback Nate Sudfeld having a fully guaranteed $2 million contract for 2022. By parting ways with Jones in an immediate aftermath of a trade, the 49ers would clear the quarterback’s roster bonus of just over $3.2 million, due on Aug. 5.

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This still might not be enough to convince the G-Men to bite, and it’s all purely speculative, of course. So there might be a scenario where the Niners would have to absorb a portion of Garoppolo’s 2022 base salary anyway.

Assuming Garoppolo won’t want to take a significant pay cut (why would he?), perhaps San Francisco would agree to cover a portion his own base salary this season, provided that convinces New York to increase the return in draft compensation.

Again, all this is speculative. And the conclusion is the Giants do have reasons to make such a deal happen.

The negotiations and compensation are where it gets interesting.