The 49ers couldn’t find a trade partner for Jimmy Garoppolo during the offseason, and now these four teams probably wish they had made a move.
All the talk and speculation of what the future held for San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo entering the 2022 season sure seems like a distant memory now.
From the inevitability of him being traded (including Rita Oak’s famous Twitter art) as part of the Niners’ plan to fully promote Trey Lance to the starting role, through a tense training camp where Garoppolo wasn’t even practicing with his teammates and to that shocking news San Francisco was ultimately going to keep Jimmy G around a little while longer.
Yes, it’s been quite the rollercoaster ride.
Garoppolo hasn’t been otherworldly this season, rather he’s been awfully similar to the signal-caller he was under head coach Kyle Shanahan dating back to the tail end of 2017. And yet the 49ers, now at 3-2 and in first place in the NFC West, are eyeing yet another deep playoff run.
Tack on Lance’s season-ending ankle injury, the Niners sure do appear to be geniuses for holding onto the veteran quarterback instead of trading him.
Other teams balked at trading for Garoppolo, though. And with some awfully bad quarterbacking going on around the NFL after five weeks, these four squads probably wish they had taken advantage of a would-be Garoppolo trade instead of sitting idle.
Broncos could have paid less for Jimmy Garoppolo instead of Russell Wilson
The Denver Broncos could have been an ideal suitor for Garoppolo. After all, they’ve got a close relationship with San Francisco’s general manager, John Lynch, as well as Shanahan himself.
And it certainly wouldn’t have involved the lucrative trade package Denver instead chose to send off to the Seattle Seahawks for quarterback Russell Wilson.
OK, so Wilson and the Broncos beat the 49ers back in Week 3 in one of the ugliest offensive showings of the season. But, stepping away from the small picture, the fact Denver not only gave up a king’s ransom to acquire Wilson but then inked him to a massive extension shortly thereafter spells all kinds of doom.
Russell Wilson has 4 passing TDs this entire season
— Hard Rock Sportsbook (@HardRockSB) October 7, 2022
Patrick Mahomes had 5 in Week 1 pic.twitter.com/nwM8BshbKl
Wilson has only four passing touchdowns on the year, and his 59.4 completion percentage ranks 28th out of 32 qualifiers.
Garoppolo might not have been infinitely better in the offensive disaster that is Denver under first-year head coach Nathaniel Hackett.
But Jimmy G certainly would have cost much, much less.
Steelers would have preferred Jimmy Garoppolo to Mitchell Trubisky
Unlike the Broncos, who dished out both NFL Draft capital and financial assets to Russell Wilson, the Pittsburgh Steelers took the inexpensive route in their should-have-started-it-two-years-ago attempt to find an heir apparent to now-retired quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
The fix? None other than top-three draft bust Mitchell Trubisky.
OK, so a change in scenery from the doldrums of the Chicago Bears might have revitalized Trubisky’s career, and head coach Mike Tomlin providing some stability within a top-caliber program could have helped regardless of the issues that trouble offensive coordinator Matt Canada.
Regardless, Trubisky has been atrocious, his 59.5 completion percentage just a shade above that of Wilson, and the former occupies the first spot higher on that same list of qualifiers.
Those struggles eventually forced Pittsburgh to turn to its high-regarded rookie quarterback, Kenny Pickett, whose Week 5 debut against the Buffalo Bills was anything but inspiring.
Yes, Jimmy Garoppolo would have cost the Steelers much more than signing Trubisky on the cheap. But such a move would have heavily increased Pittsburgh’s chances of hanging around in the AFC North, and it would have given the proper bridge to Pickett, much like the Niners intended Jimmy G to do with Trey Lance a year ago.
Panthers were ‘were top of the list’ of trade candidates for Jimmy Garoppolo
Jimmy Garoppolo and Kyle Shanahan both slammed the door on the head coach Matt Rhule era with the Carolina Panthers in Week 5, demolishing Carolina by a score of 37-15 in a statement win over an inferior opponent.
All the while, San Francisco reminded the Panthers that they made a mistake in trading for quarterback Baker Mayfield earlier this offseason, even though one might argue the Cleveland Browns ultimately lost that trade by having to pay a hefty portion of his contract.
Read More: Jimmy Garoppolo, 49ers effectively ‘end’ Panthers head coach Matt Rhule
Interestingly enough, Carolina was reportedly a top contender for Garoppolo’s services last offseason.
The source? Garoppolo himself.
“I think we were advancing with a couple different teams. Nothing, obviously came to fruition,” Garoppolo said, via NFL.com. [The Panthers] were top of the list, I would say, one of the top couple. I’m glad things worked out. I’m here, so I’m focused on this stuff now.”
It’s hard to fathom whether or not Garoppolo would have been a significant upgrade over Mayfield on the field, but one might at least appreciate Garoppolo’s locker-room presence, which the 49ers have certainly enjoyed despite their desire to trade him.
Commanders are a disaster with Carson Wentz, they wouldn’t have been with Jimmy Garoppolo
The Washington Commanders could have also been in on Jimmy Garoppolo during the offseason. And while the ultimate decision to pass on Jimmy G might have its merits, perhaps for nothing more than understanding how owner Dan Snyder isn’t exactly fond of Kyle Shanahan, the contingency plan of trading for former Philadelphia Eagles and former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Carson Wentz was, well… provocative.
The Colts ran Wentz out of town a year after they aggressively traded for him, and that alone should have been a red flag for Washington.
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Wentz’s numbers overall might not be quite as bad as those of Russell Wilson or Mitchell Trubisky. But with 20 sacks taken, third highest in the NFL through five weeks, Wentz isn’t exactly providing answers for a team boasting a 1-4 record and looking squarely at a last-place finish within the suddenly tough NFC East.
A second-round pick swap, plus a third-round pick and a conditional 2023 pick highlight what Washington gave up.
Garoppolo might not have been that expensive, and his own accolade list certainly surpasses that of Wentz, who is now struggling on his third team in as many years.