The 49ers' decision to keep veteran quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo while giving the starting job to Trey Lance continues to bewilder NBC Sports' Peter King.
King already has gone on record saying that having the 30-year-old on the roster will affect Lance's psyche, considering that the North Dakota State product has to look over his shoulder after every performance.
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On Tuesday's appearance with 95.7 The Game's "Damon and Ratto," King stated that Garoppolo remains in the Bay Area due to the 49ers' lack of confidence in Lance.
"I don't think if they were madly in love with Trey Lance and his readiness that they would have done this," King said. "... If the 49ers had total, absolute confidence in Trey Lance, they wouldn't have done this.
"I think it's easy to see; I'm not even knocking the 49ers for doing this. I'm simply saying that doing this comes at a price, and that price is the mental approach and the stability and the development of Trey Lance."
Having Garoppolo behind Lance does give San Francisco a security blanket should the 22-year-old struggle or sustain an injury. The 49ers are built to contend in the NFC and could reach Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, AZ.
San Francisco 49ers
Nonetheless, King isn't buying the security blanket should an injury occur, citing the Cincinnati Bengals' decision not to bring any veteran presence behind quarterback Joe Burrow, who was coming off tearing his left ACL in 2020.
"If the San Francisco 49ers felt about Trey Lance entering Year 2 the way that the Bengals felt about Joe Burrow entering Year 2, do you think that Zac Taylor and Duke Tobin and the Bengal's brain trust would be saying, 'Oh, my God, we've got to backstop this guy with somebody who's really significant because he got hurt last year?'" King added.
"'And so we need to make absolutely sure that we have a guy who can play in case our guy can't.' No, the Bengals didn't do that, and the reason they didn't do that is because they had total, absolute confidence in Joe Burrow."
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Lance will have an opportunity to ensure that the starting job is his when the 49ers head to Solider Field on Sunday for a matchup against the Chicago Bears in Week 1.