King: If cut by 49ers, Jimmy G shouldn't rush to Seahawks

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The Jimmy Garoppolo era in San Francisco could be entering its final hours.

NFL teams will trim rosters down to 53 players by Tuesday's deadline at 1 p.m. PT, meaning the 49ers will make a decision to either release Garoppolo and save $25.5 million in cap space or give Garoppolo a coveted spot on their crowded 53-man roster.

If the 49ers officially cut ties with Garoppolo on Tuesday -- or at some point before Week 1 -- NBC Sports' Peter King believes the quarterback should be patient in finding his next home.

"I think if I’m Jimmy Garoppolo, and I get my freedom [sometime] in the next two weeks, I don’t sign anywhere. I wait," King wrote in his weekly "Football Morning in America" column. "I get fully healthy and sign with a team when there’s a quarterback injury."

One team rumored to be interested in Garoppolo is the 49ers' division rival Seattle Seahawks, who just named Geno Smith their starting signal-caller after a mostly uninteresting quarterback battle with Drew Lock in training camp.

Former NFL executive Mike Lombardi reported last week that the Seahawks were the biggest reason why San Francisco hadn't cut Garoppolo yet. The 49ers understandably don't want the veteran quarterback to end up with a division rival on their schedule twice this season, which might explain why Garoppolo doesn't own a playbook or attend team meetings.

Seahawks fans have been vocal on Twitter and even via signs at preseason games in their desire for Seattle to acquire Garoppolo.

But King isn't hearing the same steam in the Pacific Northwest.

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"Maybe Seattle’s a good opportunity for him (I haven’t heard the Seahawks are very interested anyway), but he’d have to learn a new offense and join a team not committed to him on the fly when two quarterbacks already have been immersed in the offense since the spring," King wrote. "(And in Geno Smith’s case, longer.) Waiting allows Garoppolo to be choosy and maybe to get very lucky if the team with an injury is a strong playoff team."

Garoppolo's future remains one of the biggest questions in the NFL as the regular season approaches.

The 49ers' plan should become clearer by Tuesday's deadline.

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