Report: NFL teams believe 49ers are ‘bluffing’ about not trading Jimmy Garoppolo

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch speak to the media Monday afternoon, where they’re sure to repeat what they’ve said for the past few months: Jimmy Garoppolo is our quarterback for 2021.

The Athletic’s Jeff Howe had this to say about Garoppolo’s situation with the 49ers, after saying the Niners would select either Trey Lance or Justin Fields:

The 49ers have maintained their commitment to Jimmy Garoppolo throughout the offseason.

For what it’s worth, other teams don’t believe them.

However, the Patriots have shown interest in acquiring Garoppolo, and other teams believe the 2014 second-rounder is available or at least will become available once the Niners stop bluffing. The 49ers-Dolphins trade will lead to teams continuing to check on Garoppolo’s availability.

They were planning to monitor Garoppolo’s availability either way.

The Patriots already planned to remain aggressive on the quarterback front this offseason. If their hope was to draft a QB, the Friday trades made that journey far more difficult. If their ideal scenario involved Garoppolo, that door might have cracked open a little wider.

It always comes back to “if they get the compensation that they think is fair” as a caveat to trading Garoppolo. Common sense says he’ll be moved and the Niners will take advantage of a rookie quarterbacks contract for each year and pair him with a veteran like Gardner Minshew.

New England is an obvious fit for Jimmy G, unless they, too, plan to trade into the top-8 for a QB. Other teams who could be in no man’s land of the first round like Chicago, or even Carolina if they don’t trade up could use Garoppolo’s services. He’s a clear upgrade from Andy Dalton and Teddy Bridgewater.

Getting a third-round pick from either of those teams would be an ideal scenario for the 49ers as they could package that and their third-round comp pick to potentially move up into the second round for a player who could contribute right away.

I’m not looking forward to the 21 questions Lynch and Shanahan will receiver Monday afternoon about their quarterback situation, but it’s a topic that will be on the forefront for the next month.