San Francisco 49ers: Will keeping Jimmy Garoppolo be good or bad?

The San Francisco 49ers made the decision to keep Jimmy Garoppolo on the roster as a backup, but is such a decision doomed to fail or is it a masterstroke?

If someone had asked a month ago the odds of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo staying on the roster for Week 1, they would have been very long indeed.

With such little cap space and the team moving on from Garoppolo at quarterback in lieu of Trey Lance, it made all the sense in the world for the team to save at least some money by trading or releasing him.

As for Garoppolo, the temptation of a starting role and a fresh start would surely take precedence over being a clipboard holder on the roster once again.

But with Week 1 mere days away, the impossible has seemingly happened with Garoppolo agreeing to rework his contract and save the 49ers plenty of cap room while retaining his services for one more season.

There’s a no trade clause in effect so Garoppolo has full power in any trade that may arise, but on the other hand over $20 million is saved.

And as a possible added bonus, a midseason injury to a starting quarterback at a playoff caliber team could very well send a very good pick to pry Garoppolo from the 49ers.

The result is Garoppolo only on the roster for $6.5 million in base salary which is a large amount for a backup quarterback, but it can be argued Garoppolo is now the best backup in the league and gives the team a safety valve in the event Lance underperforms or gets injured.

But therein lies the problem. Lance was meant to be given the keys to the franchise, and this decision has done nothing to convince the media that he’s ready.

Lance was mixed in the preseason, performing well against the Green Bay Packers while having a more mixed performance in the dress rehearsal against the Houston Texans. He was also mixed in preseason, having some struggles against the 49ers vaunted defense while having some excellent days too.

It should be noted in fairness however that Lance was without quite a few of his blockers or offensive weapons during training camp.

Lance is undoubtedly raw but very talented, and it has to be expected he’ll have peaks and valleys in his performance in 2022. It was expected he would have a long leash with such performances, but keeping Garoppolo has made that a major question mark.

After all, the 49ers have a roster that’s designed to win now. Can head coach Kyle Shanahan resist the temptation to look to his veteran backup that took the team to a Super Bowl if his young upstart at the position has a rough patch?

It’s hard to argue the benefits of such an experienced quarterback as a backup, but it’s also hard to argue that the narrative of Lance vs. Garoppolo is now a blazing fire that just had gasoline dumped on it.

The team is Lance’s, but for how long? Only Shanahan knows the answer to this, is Garoppolo truly just a backup with trade value or is he now the “break glass in case of emergency” option stashed away.

One thing is for sure, 2022 is going to have no shortage of drama for San Francisco as the team looks to get back to the Super Bowl.