Answering the ‘Did the 49ers overpay for Jimmy Garoppolo?’ question

Before the Jimmy Garoppolo/49er ManChild and “This Must Mean New England Will Sign Colin Kaepernick” fantasies go too far afield, let’s remember the first fantasy of all – that Garoppolo would fetch the Patriots a handsome ransom.

For all the ravings that Bill Belichick refused all offers for him, and that as Tom Brady’s prince regent he would fetch multiple first round picks, Garoppolo actually only netted a draft choice that will be no higher than 33rd overall. Plus, the clock was ticking on any deal, because the likelihood that once he was franchised at the $20 million-plus figure he would surely command would diminish come the offseason.

Thus, now was the last best time for Belichick to deal Garoppolo, and the 49ers had a sufficiently appealing pick – in that it was clearly the best the Patriots could get.

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Of course, that suggests that other teams who might have been in the market for him decided he wasn’t worth even that, which begs the seemingly unthinkable question, “Did the 49ers overpay for Jimmy Garoppolo?”

And the answer to that is “no,” because a possible franchise quarterback is better than what they had in Brian Hoyer and C.J. Beathard. And the 49ers need to feel and sell hope more than they need to search for bargains.

Thus, the only real issue is whether Jimmy Garoppolo is the future, or just another frantic stab in the dark to a team that already has more than enough self-applied knife wounds. And that won’t be known for years – just like everything else about this franchise.

That’s what pique and stubbornness get you. That’s what’s what impetuousness and reliance on the wrong people gets you. That’s what three years of inertia in a highly competitive field gets you – the jeweled mystery that is Jimmy Garoppolo.