San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan expects Jimmy Garoppolo to be the team's starting quarterback next season.
You can count the Niners' top receiving target, tight end George Kittle, as a vocal supporter of that idea.
On Tuesday, Kittle expressed his admiration for Garoppolo, who, when healthy, has been QB1 since being traded to the Bay Area midway through the 2017 season.
“I play tight end here and I just work here, but I think that I do have a little bit of a voice and I’ve said multiple times that I just love playing football with Jimmy G,” Kittle told KNBR, via NBCSportsBayArea.com. “Our team is different when he’s out there, and that’s why it’s fun to play football with him because I think we both have big-time changes to our huddles when we’re both on the football field.
Kittle also praised the leadership skills of the 29-year old, who helped lead the 49ers to an appearance in Super Bowl LIV.
“I can’t say enough about the leader Jimmy G is, and how his presence changes how the team is feeling, how the team is going about its business and how the team practices every day. Jimmy G is our quarterback, and moving forward he’s our quarterback, and that’s all I really have to say about it. I’m going to go with the guy that took us to a Super Bowl and played at a high level the entire year. That’s my case for Jimmy G, and I think it’s a decent one.”
Kittle's comments come a day after Shanahan was asked whether he could say with “100 percent certainty” that Garoppolo will return for his fourth full season in San Francisco in 2021.
“You can’t say anything with certainty,” Shanahan said, via Nick Wagoner of ESPN. “You don’t sit here and make promises on anything. When you build a football team, it’s your job to put the best team together year in and year out. People talk about Jimmy’s salary. Jimmy is like one of the middle quarterbacks in the league right now in terms of salary. That’s just how much they cost. So it’s not like it’s something ridiculous or anything like that, so we can work all that out. And, not to mention, look at Jimmy’s record when he’s been here. Jimmy you can win with. He’s proven that. He’s proven he’s a starting quarterback in this league.”
Garoppolo is scheduled to count $26.4 million against the cap in 2021 and $27 in 2022.
“But Jimmy, there’s a reason his record is what it is, and that’s why we paid for him to be our starting quarterback. And to think that that’s ridiculous with where his contract is, this isn’t like the first year. That’s how much quarterbacks cost in this league.”
“…Jimmy has shown in one year that he’s the guy who can take us to the Super Bowl and I also think that Jimmy is going to get a lot better the more he plays.”
Garoppolo has started 30 games for the 49ers, winning 22 with a 98.1 passer rating. However, he's missed 23 games due to injuries, including all but six in 2020 due to a high ankle sprain.
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