Jimmy Garoppolo future hinges on Zach Wilson injury, Jets’ move

There’s a chance the 49ers could look to the Jets as a trade partner for Jimmy Garoppolo, depending how serious Zach Wilson’s knee injury is.

The San Francisco 49ers better be hoping for the best news for New York Jets second-year quarterback Zach Wilson.

But the Niners are prepared to be trade partners with Gang Green if news for Wilson is bad.

Wilson suffered what appeared to be a serious non-contact injury during New York’s preseason victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday night, which crossed over into San Francisco’s own exhibition win over the Green Bay Packers.

The 49ers’ win was headlined by quarterback Trey Lance tossing a 76-yard touchdown deep down the field, not veteran signal-caller Jimmy Garoppolo.

Back to Wilson, who generated some initial fear of an ACL tear, which would be devastating for the player New York selected in the 2021 NFL Draft just one pick ahead of Lance. And while further tests and an MRI will confirm either good or bad news, one has to think the Niners are closely monitoring.

Will 49ers trade Jimmy Garoppolo to Jets?

Shortly after the game, Jets head coach Robert Saleh told reporters Wilson is believed to have not torn his ACL, and on-field/locker-room tests can typically be pretty accurate when it comes to determining whether or not this was the injury.

However, nothing is official there.

If it’s an MCL injury, Wilson’s timeline for recovery could be weeks, not a season-ending injury. And that would make a would-be Garoppolo trade to New York a moot point.

That said, if Wilson is expected to miss the season, one has to think San Francisco would be calling Saleh and the Jets front office to offer a deal.

Garoppolo and Saleh have a rapport, of course, given Saleh’s tenure as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator between 2017 and 2020. Additionally, Jets offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur was the Niners’ pass-game coordinator during that span, too, traveling with Saleh when the latter took New York’s head-coaching gig in 2021.

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A problem, though, is the Jets have just under $9 million in available salary-cap space right now, while Garoppolo’s base salary is nearly three times that at $24.2 million.

Unless San Francisco agrees to pay part of Jimmy G’s salary or Garoppolo agrees to a hefty pay cut, a trade would seem unlikely unless Garoppolo receives some sort of extension. And that wouldn’t be in play with New York having invested so much in Wilson anyway.

Still, the Jets could be aggressive here, but the only way to find out if the context will allow it is to see if the second-year quarterback winds up being healthy for Garoppolo to be a trade target.

Update: Brian Costello of the New York Post reported on Saturday morning that Wilson suffered a bone bruise and a meniscus tear that’ll sideline the quarterback for two to four weeks, meaning a Garoppolo trade just dissipated.