The 49ers, if they’d made it to the Super Bowl, would have had the proverbial “good problem to have” for 2022, with veteran quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo entering the final year of his contract and rookie Trey Lance (in whom they invested three first-round picks and a third-round pick) moving toward his second season.
The final outcome of Sunday’s game — another 10-point lead blown in the fourth quarter of a huge game — makes it seem more clear that the 49ers will make the move they moved up in the draft to make.
After the 20-17 loss to the Rams, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan was asked about the future of Garoppolo.
“I love Jimmy,” Shanahan told reporters. “I’m not gonna sit here and make a farewell statement. That’s the last thing on my mind. . . . I love coaching Jimmy.”
The proper conjugation of that last verb possibly is “loved.” With the game on the line, he failed to step up like championship quarterbacks do. The Rams knew they had a quarterback like that in Jared Goff, so they got Matthew Stafford. The 49ers went another way. Unless they fear that Lance needs another full season of seasoning before he’s truly ready to go — and if he does, why did they give up so much to get him? — Jimmy’s time as a 49er is over.