PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The 49ers could start the season with both Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance on the payroll, and that’s just fine with Jed York.
The CEO and owner of the 49ers has confidence that coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch will make the best decisions for the success of the team.
The goal is simply to win football games, and in two out of the past three seasons, the brain trust has done just that with a trip to Super Bowl LIV in 2019 and an appearance in the NFC Championship game in 2021.
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“I trust them to make decisions on behalf of the organization,” York said on Tuesday at the NFL Annual Meeting. “I’ve been in a situation where you look at every single draft pick and you evaluate each one individually. And I think I have taken a step back from trying to evaluate every single piece.”
York has trust in Shanahan and Lynch because of their success on the field, as well as their reaction to things not going as planned. There is no finger-pointing, but rather collective wins and shared blame for losses.
After six years of working together, York notes that Shanahan and Lynch are even closer now than they were when they first started with the franchise. York sees that as a rare find in any relationship of that length.
How the head coach and the general manager work together is one reason why York doesn’t have a problem with both quarterbacks on the roster.
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The CEO of the franchise understands how the trade market for Garoppolo has dried up since the quarterback’s shoulder surgery on March 8. If the team needs to carry him on the roster until a worthwhile offer is made, York sees it as a potential benefit.
“We have two really good quarterbacks on our roster,” York said. “One guy has gotten to the final four and beyond two of the last three seasons. If he’s our guy, that’s OK. If Trey is our guy that we traded up for, that’s OK.
“I want to win football games. It’s not about ‘We traded up for Trey, so that’s the automatic decision.’”
York sees the quarterback position as the most important in all of the sports and having depth is a positive thing. He doesn’t need to look too far into the past to remember that there have been multiple injuries at the 49ers' quarterback position over the past several seasons.
In nearly five seasons with the club, Garoppolo has appeared in 46 games. In the two seasons when the play-caller remained healthy and played in the vast majority of the contests, the 49ers advanced deep into the postseason.
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In the three seasons when Garoppolo played six games or fewer, the team posted a losing record. Even Lance suffered multiple injuries in his first season with the club and is 1-1 in his first two NFL starts.
"I don’t ever want to tell those guys, ‘You have to do this,' " York said. "They know what the salary cap is. We always spend to the salary cap and if this is where we want to put our resources, quarterback is not a bad place to put more resources than somewhere [else].”
For now, the 49ers will have two highly paid quarterbacks on their roster. If offers start coming in for Garoppolo once his shoulder is healed, there is no doubt that Lynch and Shanahan will agree on what decision benefits the team the most.
But for now, York will be patient and trust his top lieutenants to do what's best for the team.