The San Francisco 49ers have made it clear that they are moving on from Jimmy Garoppolo. But the team has still neglected to cut the veteran quarterback from their roster.

The 49ers have reiterated multiple times throughout the offseason that Trey Lance is their quarterback of the future. Even so, there may be a reason why the team has yet to formally move on from Garopollo.

The 49ers may be willing to take it down to the wire to keep Jimmy Garoppolo away from a division rival.

Former NFL executive Michael Lombardi recently spoke about the Garoppolo situation on his podcast, “The GM Shuffle”.

Lombardi claims that the 49ers are yet to move on so that they can stop the Seattle Seahawks from obtaining Garoppolo if he is cut.

The Seahawks currently have a quarterback battle taking place between Geno Smith and Drew Lock. But they could also be interested in what the 49ers choose to do with Jimmy Garoppolo.

Lombardi stated, “So for all the talk about Geno, for all the talk about Drew Lock, I think Seattle knows they’re going to get Jimmy G. And I think San Francisco knows that he could go there. So they’re trying everything in their power to prevent that, and they have no takers.”

The 49ers and Garoppolo have long been headed towards a breakup. But off-season shoulder surgery for the quarterback and a lack of quarterback need around the league has kept the 49ers from finding a suitor for him.

On September 11th, Jimmy Garoppolo’s salary becomes fully guaranteed and the 49ers will have to pay him. Trading him or cutting him is the only option. But one of these routes could lead to him landing with a rival.