Kyle Shanahan still expects 49ers to find a trade partner for QB Jimmy Garoppolo

During his press availability on Tuesday, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked about his expectations for the future of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. Despite a seeming dearth of potential landing spots for Garoppolo, Shanahan was optimistic the 49ers would still be able to recoup some pieces in a trade. He told reporters, “I expect him at some time, most likely to be traded.”

As most already know, the Niners have been set to transition from Garoppolo to Trey Lance under center all offseason long. However, San Francisco has been unable to move Garoppolo in a trade and remains unwilling to release him to the free-agent market. Shanahan acknowledged that “it’s not a guarantee” that the 49ers will find a trade partner but did not elaborate on what that would mean for the 2022 roster.

The 49ers' options to trade Garoppolo dwindled early when Jimmy G underwent shoulder surgery early in the offseason while several other veteran quarterbacks, like Russell Wilson, Deshaun Watson, and Matt Ryan, all found new homes in trades to quarterback-needy teams. Most of the remaining teams with some questions under center landed intriguing quarterback prospects in the draft.

At this point, Garoppolo’s impending base salary north of $25 million should assure he will not be on the 49ers roster this season. However, every other NFL team knows that as well. If anyone is still interested in acquiring Jimmy G, why offer anything in a trade when the Niners will likely release him and make him a free agent shortly? At least for the moment, Shanahan seems to believe someone will pay up, and if he’s right, San Francisco will be happy to be done with their quarterback conundrum.

Here’s Shanahan’s full quote:

“Yeah, nothing’s changed since the surgery, we knew where we were at before that, and then he got the surgery, so everything went on hold. I expect him at some time, most likely to be traded, but who knows. It’s not a guarantee and it’s been exactly on hold when that happened. And when he is healthy, we’ll see what happens.”