GM John Lynch says there’s no doubt Jimmy Garoppolo will remain 49ers quarterback
The 49ers since November have maintained they expect Jimmy Garoppolo to remain their starter in 2021, yet the NFL’s offseason speculation machine has continued to run in high gear discussing scenarios in which San Francisco could move on for a potential upgrade.
To date, that upgrade has not been made while Matthew Stafford (Rams), Jared Goff (Lions) and Carson Wentz (Colts) have found new teams, and it appears to be more likely by the day Garoppolo will be under center when the 49ers open training camp this summer.
General manager John Lynch this week gave another clear endorsement to Garoppolo as the centerpiece of San Francisco’s offense when he appeared on “The Eye Test for Two” podcast with Hall of Fame voters Ira Kaufman and Clark Judge.
Lynch was asked if there was any doubt Garoppolo would be the starter, assuming he’s healthy.
“No,” said Lynch. “Not at all. I really believe that.”
Of course, that doesn’t entirely rule out trading for disgruntled Texans star Deshaun Watson, though Houston is reportedly not fielding any trade offers, drafting a potential starter or adding a veteran via free agency or trade. But it’s more likely the change in the 49ers’ quarterback room will come to Garoppolo’s backups, who haven’t played well while he’s dealt with injuries in 2018 and in 2020.
“Being available is a big part of this thing,” Lynch said, acknowledging Garoppolo’s injury history. “Probably as a stated goal … we have to insulate ourselves better (behind Garoppolo). We got to have better options if he’s not there.”
The 49ers are 24-9 during Garoppolo’s starts, including their 13-3 campaign in 2019 that included earning the No. 1 seed in the NFC and going to the Super Bowl in Garoppolo’s only full season as the starter. He was the only quarterback in the NFL to rank in the top five in passing touchdowns, yards per attempt and completion percentage, though he played poorly in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl loss to Kansas City, which has fueled much of the ire thrown his direction. The team is 7-19 without Garoppolo after adding him midway through the 2017 season.
But then Garoppolo suffered a high ankle sprain to his right plant leg in the first quarter of Week 2 against the Jets and again in a November loss to the Seahawks. Garoppolo appeared in just six games with San Francisco going 3-3 while backup Nick Mullens struggled and the team finished with a 2-6 record with Mullens under center.
Mullens is a restricted free agent and coming off a late season throwing elbow injury that led to third stringer C.J. Beathard starting the final two games. Beathard is an unrestricted free agent the 49ers drafted in the third round in 2017 during Kyle Shanahan and Lynch’s first draft with the team.
Lynch’s words this week echo what he said in January: “Kyle and I both have spoken and spoken fairly directly as to the fact that we expect Jimmy to be our quarterback and that’s consistently met with other stories, but that’s not of concern to us because, as of right now, (CEO) Jed (York) has charged us with being the two guys (making the decision). Obviously, with a lot of input from a lot of people who make those types of decisions and I think we’ve spoken clearly to that.”
Garoppolo after the season said he’s worked to ignore the speculation and sounds content with the 49ers despite all the chatter surrounding his future.
“I honestly haven’t put too much thought into it,” Garoppolo said. “All those things get said, but at the end of the day, I’m a 49er. I’m here to play quarterback. I’m here to be the quarterback of this team and every day I go out there and try to prove that to my teammates and my coaches. At the end of the day, that’s what really matters. So, the people in this building, I love them. I love every one of them.”
