With Deshaun Watson landing in Cleveland, the rest of the quarterback market can get moving again. And while Baker Mayfield becomes the biggest name to land on the stop-and-start carousel, 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo continues to be the biggest question mark in this year’s class of veteran passers.
The 49ers are indeed trying to trade him. The Colts are the team regarded in league circles as the most interested.
As we hear it, 49ers G.M. John Lynch is telling interested teams that he has an offer in hand of two second-round picks for Garoppolo, a player the team acquired in 2017 for one second-round pick. (At least one interested team reacted to the news, we’re told, by concluding that, if the 49ers have two first-round picks for Garoppolo, they should take it.)
Potential destinations beyond Indianapolis include, in our view, the Saints, the Texans, and maybe the Panthers. The Seahawks likely are looking for an upgrade, but it’s unclear whether the 49ers would trade him in the division. (It happens; the Patriots sent Drew Bledsoe to the Bills in 2002, and the Eagles sent Donovan McNabb to Washington in 2010, to name the first two that come to mind.)
Garoppolo has a non-guaranteed compensation package of $25 million, and he’s recovering from shoulder surgery. He has a propensity to get injured. He’s a fringe top-half-of-the-league quarterback. He also isn’t under contract for 2023.
Yep. If the 49ers can get two second-round picks for Garoppolo, they should take it.