| The Jimmy Garoppolo summer sweepstakes began exactly as they were supposed to. It all kicked off at the right time, on Feb. 1, just after the San Francisco 49ers’ tilt at making the Super Bowl had fallen narrowly short, and just before the handful of NFL teams seeking their future quarterback were readying to look in earnest. The message was the right one, too, a farewell speech from Garoppolo that conveyed his appreciation for his time in the Bay Area and came across as genuine and heartfelt. “It’s been a hell of a ride, guys,” he said. “Love you guys. So, see ya.” In that regard, Garoppolo shaped up as the perfect pitchman, lined up as a positive, safe pair of hands for any franchise looking to stabilize itself at a time when QB play is the game’s most cherished commodity. And yet, as April rumbles onward and the start of next season no longer seems quite so distant, there has been nothing. Garoppolo, he of the textbook goodbye, is still a Niner. The handsome mug was unfortunately accompanied by a sore shoulder, and the resultant surgery has iced the action. Those sweepstakes haven’t found a winner yet, mostly because no one has plunked down their money to buy a ticket. If the 30-year-old Jimmy G is on our minds, it’s only because those Subway commercials where he hangs out with Simone Biles and Steph Curry play so often. But he’s not in the news, for news requires some kind of activity. Garoppolo didn’t get traded in the first flurry of movement involving relocating signal-callers, which left everyone thinking something might happen in the chatter-and-schmooze fest that is the annual meetings in Florida. But there was nothing there either. So here we are, with San Francisco seeking to finalize its plans for the new campaign. The 49ers have a $26.9 million-sized elephant in the corner of a room, and second-year QB Trey Lance sitting on a throne in the middle of it. A lot of business has been done and a lot of QB spots have been filled. Russell Wilson is no longer in Seattle, having upped sticks for Denver. The Cleveland Browns swung big for Deshaun Watson. The Indianapolis Colts swooped for Matt Ryan, leaving Carson Wentz with the Washington Commanders. Marcus Mariota and Mitchell Trubisky got deals. Tom Brady’s flirtation with retirement didn’t stick. Meanwhile, the shoulder surgery Garoppolo underwent has, to this point, been just enough of a reason for teams to look elsewhere. “The surgery was a surprise, so that was different,” head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters this week. “But we went into free agency and we thought we really needed to get a corner. That was our No. 1 need. And we got that.” The 49ers are posturing that they’re not concerned and are actually doing a decent job of selling that theory. The acquisition Shanahan was talking about was the signing of cornerback Charvarius Ward, and things are progressing just fine, albeit with the need to extend Deebo Samuel and Nick Bosa looming large. The odd thing here — and Baker Mayfield is experiencing a little of this — is that the sound of silence would be shattered with an emphatic roar were either he or Garoppolo to be cut by their respective teams. The 49ers have made it clear that’s not going to happen — and that they want some draft capital in return. They’re prepared to wait. In that sense, having Garoppolo around isn’t as troubling a situation as it would be for Mayfield to stay put with the Browns. “We value strength at that position,” general manager John Lynch said. “To be completely forthright, though, when you make a trade (for Lance) of that magnitude, most of our options did not include Jimmy on our books — on our team. “You always have to adapt and a series of events happened that it didn’t work out. But that’s not a bad thing, though. We feel positive with it. And we’ll make it work.” Everyone values the quarterback position, but not so much to have a backup at that price looking over the shoulder of the young guy trying to make his mark. Make of Lynch’s comments what you will. He is known as a straight shooter, but he has every reason to be duplicitous here. If by clinging to the pretense that they’re prepared to keep Garoppolo it bumps up the trade price a little, that would be a 49er win. It is a tricky time. The 49ers got close enough to sniff a championship just a few months back and can have cause to feel they are one player away from making a run at winning it all. Whether Lance is that guy or not remains to be seen, though their preference would not be for him to be burdened by the additional pressure of having Garoppolo around. It is growing into a weird saga, albeit much less awkward because of how Garoppolo and the team remain on good terms. The Carolina Panthers are now the team most often mentioned in association with him — because there are few other obvious fits left. Garoppolo himself is relishing a new opportunity, Lance presumably benefited from learning behind him last season, and the whole thing shapes up as one of those rare items in the NFL — something that works out for everybody. But first, something actually has to happen. The long goodbye just keeps getting longer. Much more of it, and you have to wonder if it will happen at all. |
