San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has been a major topic during this year's offseason. It was widely speculated the team would start the year with 2021 first-round pick Trey Lance under center, and in late June, the 49er's officially named their second-year quarterback the starter.

With Lance now calling the shots in the Bay area, one question was magnified: What does the future have in store for Jimmy G?

Garoppolo's future with the team has been a fun subject to theorize through the offseason, but as of Monday, there's no longer a need to predict what happens next.

While NFL fans scrolled Twitter anxious to see who their team will be parting with on the way to a 53-man roster, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport gave everyone the scoop on Jimmy G's future with his current 49ers team. Spoiler alert – He isn't going anywhere, at least for now.

It may sound odd that the 49ers made their backup quarterback the highest-paid in the league despite having a first-round pick the team believes in, but this move makes a lot of sense. Before we get to why it makes sense, let's quickly review how we got here.

The San Francisco 49ers dished out a second-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft to acquire Garoppolo at the trade deadline in 2017. At the end of the season, after playing only half of the year in a 49ers uniform, San Francisco awarded the quarterback with a 5-year, $137 million deal.

As steep as such a deal was for a quarterback who started only 7 contests at the NFL level, Garoppolo showed he was a winner. Not only did he finish the '17 season 5-0 as the starter for San Francisco, but just two years later he took his new team to the Super Bowl.

After a disappointing '20 campaign from Garoppolo, San Francisco headed into the annual draft with one player in particular they loved – Trey Lance.

The 49ers liked Lance so much that they traded three first-round picks just to move up from 12th-overall to 3rd and select the North Dakota State QB. Now, after one season of holding the clipboard behind Jimmy G, Lance will be the starting quarterback heading into the opening week.

With the backstory out of the way, let's hop into why San Francisco made the right move in keeping Garoppolo.

2 reasons the 49ers made the right choice of keeping Jimmy Garoppolo around

2. Lance is still learning, and Jimmy G will teach.

Yes, Trey Lance has been named the starting quarterback, and yes, San Francisco has viewed him as a franchise quarterback since before the '21 NFL Draft came around. That said, it's important to remember Lance has only started 2 contests in his professional career, completing just 57% of his passes.

Like Lance, Garoppolo was once learning and had a fellow quarterback mentor him. The player who helped Jimmy G grow in this league? You might've heard of him; Tom Brady.

Garoppolo spent three and a half years in New England with Brady, soaking up both pointers and film over the Patriots' two Super Bowl runs in that timeframe. Now, just as Brady did with Garoppolo, it's Jimmy G's turn to help mold the young stud in town into a fine quarterback.

There's clearly a gap in the pair's productivity from last season, and Garoppolo should go a long way in helping Lance inch closer to his numbers. While Lance completed only 57% of his passes last year, Garoppolo was at 68%. This was largely due to the noticeable difference in on-target throws – 81.5% vs 73.9%. Lance was also credited for ‘bad throws' at a clip of one in every five, or 20% of pass attempts.

These are things Garoppolo will help correct, sharing not only his own insight that helped lead San Francisco to a Super Bowl appearance, but Brady's teachings as well.

1. Trey Lance insurance.

Jimmy G should be a great mentor for the inexperienced Trey Lance, but what if Lance still doesn't impress? After all, the second-year quarterback has only started two contests in his NFL career, so no one can be too sure of what happens next.

The 49ers have great faith in Lance's ability, but he's yet to prove he's the answer. The blunt truth is, as good as Lance has looked at times, the 49ers are 1-2 in games where Lance totals more than 1 passing attempt.

Of course, this isn't to say Lance won't be the answer, but rather the chance exists he may not be. And if he isn't? No problem, you have the veteran Jimmy Garoppolo.

Despite facing heavy criticism these days, if Jimmy G has proven one thing, it's that he can win. Not only did he start with a 2-0 record in New England, but Garoppolo would go on to win all five of the games he played in during his first half-year in San Francisco. Although he appeared in only three contests the following year, he bounced back with a trip to the Super Bowl in 2019.

Even this last season, Garoppolo found himself with a winning record, being 9-6.

You'd love to see more from the 30-year-old at times – which led to his benching during the '21 season – but he just knows how to get it done. Even in the postseason last year, Garoppolo was able to win 2 games and advance to the NFC Conference Championship game after helping knock out the no.1 seed Green Bay Packers.

This is your classic win-win situation. If Lance does well under Jimmy G's tutelage, the franchise is in good hands for years to come. If not, you have a proven winner on the bench ready to go.