Time to raise some eyebrows. Less than a week removed from trading a second-round NFL draft pick to the New England Patriots for quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, it is being reported that the San Francisco 49ers might not want to keep him.

Deep breath. Relax, 49ers fans. Some of this report does make some sense. At the same time, it does make one wonder why John Lynch would give up a high pick for Jimmy Garoppolo if the Niners are expecting to go elsewhere.

Anyway, ESPN's Adam Schefter is reporting that the 49ers aren’t yet 100 percent sold on a “long-term partnership” with Garoppolo.

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Per Schefter's report:

With a potential pick among the top two in the 2018 NFL draft and roughly $60 million in salary-cap space in the offseason, the 49ers ultimately could decide to draft their quarterback of the future or use some of their money to sign a free-agent quarterback such as Washington’s Kirk Cousins, sources said.

If the 49ers decide to not sign Garoppolo to a long-term deal, they could use a franchise tag on him and then dangle him to the highest bidder in a trade,” adds Schefter. “If they were to do that, there would be interest, sources said, and they could possibly get back more than the second-round pick they surrendered.

Listen, having options is not a bad thing. Still, if the play here is to just use Jimmy Garoppolo as trade bait down the road, the 49ers best hope they receive at least a second-round pick for him. After all, if that is the play and they get worse, then they would lose the game of acquiring assets.