The San Francisco 49ers are one of the few teams in the NFL who do not know yet who the starting quarterback will be when the season kicks off in September. Many believed that Jimmy Garoppolo would be gone and Trey Lance would take over. Yet, that has not come to fruition as of yet. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan discussed the possibility of Garoppolo being traded with a surprisingly definitive take.
East Bay Times writer Cam Inman captured his thoughts.
#49ers Kyle Shanahan on Jimmy Garoppolo:
"I expect at sometime he’ll be traded but it’s not a guarantee. It went on hold when (surgery) happened."— Cam Inman (@CamInman) May 24, 2022
“I expect at sometime he'll be traded but it's not a guarantee. It went on hold when (surgery) happened,” Shanahan said.
The 49ers QB underwent successful shoulder surgery at the beginning of March. There were some notions that he opted for surgery to squash his trade value, leaving him in San Francisco next season. But that notion has since been dispelled.
The belief in and around the 49ers organization following their NFC Championship loss to the Los Angeles Rams was that quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo would be traded, opening things up for Trey Lance. After all, San Francisco traded up to use the third overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft to take Lance.
Lance barely played as a rookie last season. He appeared in six games, completing 57.7 percent of his passes. The 49ers youngster did show he was dangerous with his legs, rushing for 168 yards and a touchdown in limited action. But reports as the season wound down were that he wasn't ready to take over the offense.
It's very possible that is still the case and that is why San Francisco has not traded Garoppolo yet. But reading between the lines from Shanahan's statement, it sounds as though Lance is still considered the future.
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