Plenty of coaches are saying plenty of things about quarterback plans for the preseason opener. 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan is saying nothing.
Via Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News, Shanahan had “no announcement on QBs for Saturday exhibition [against the Chiefs] or if [Jimmy] Garoppolo must play” during a Tuesday media session.
It’s an important question, for obvious and non-obvious reasons. First, whoever starts the preseason opener will be interpreted (and perhaps accurately) as the current No. 1 quarterback. Thus, if Trey Lance gets the first-team reps despite all the praise given to veteran Jimmy Garoppolo, all the praise given to Jimmy Garoppolo will look like the BS it possibly may be.
As to Garoppolo, a decision to not play him at all in the preseason (if that’s the decision that the team makes) could be regarded as an effort to keep him as healthy as possible, in advance of what could be an eventual effort to trade him -- or to squeeze him to take less money before his non-guaranteed salary of $25 million for 2021 becomes fully guaranteed if he’s on the active roster as of Week One.
Unless the 49ers get as lucky as the Eagles did five years ago, when Teddy Bridgewater’s ACL tear opened the door for Philly to get a first-round pick and a fourth-round pick for Sam Bradford, the 49ers may decide to approach Garoppolo with an offer he can’t (or at least shouldn’t) refuse.
In lieu of $25 million for 2021, maybe they’ll offer to pay him something like $15 million, perhaps with the ability to earn back the rest based on playing time or performance. As an extra inducement, the 49ers also can offer to drop the final year of his contract in 2022, allowing him to become a free agent in March.
Or they can just cut him, without even having a conversation about taking less.
Regardless, the 49ers risk owing Garoppolo the full $25 million or 2021 if he suffers a serious injury during preseason games. Given that the 49ers became disillusioned with Garoppolo due in part to his chronic inability to stay healthy, they surely are aware of the risk they’ll be taking if they put him on the field against live tackling during a preseason game.
It also will be important to protect Lance. Some teams don’t like putting an asset as valuable as a top-five quarterback behind a second-string offensive line. It could be smarter and safer to keep Lance on the field only with starters.
The other quarterbacks currently on the roster are Josh Rosen and Nate Sudfeld. It’s possible that the 49ers will give Lance the reps with the first-team offense and that Rosen and Sudfeld will finish the game, with Garoppolo in bubble wrap pending future developments later in August, up to and including an ultimatum that the 49ers possibly have been planning all along.
Regardless, Shanahan’s decision to say nothing at a time when most coaches are saying something should at least be regarded as an acknowledgment that his plan, once implemented, will get people talking -- and that he’d rather delay the chatter for as long as he can.