It felt like a guarantee that Jimmy Garoppolo would find a new home for the 2022 NFL season. Coach Kyle Shanahan thought so, as did general manager John Lynch and Garoppolo himself.
As the offseason grew older and no trade options emerged, the probability of the 49ers releasing Garoppolo and letting him choose his next destination increased.
The only problem? The one team reportedly most interested in Garoppolo happened to also reside in the NFC West.
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"Seattle wanted him, and San Francisco knew it," former NFL executive Michael Lombardi said on the "Pat McAfee Show" Tuesday morning. "There was no trade market out there. Cleveland was never interested in him. Seattle was never interested in Baker Mayfield, but they were interested in Jimmy. I know that the 49ers were worried about cutting Jimmy and having him go to Seattle."
San Francisco put an end to its apparent Garoppolo anxiety by agreeing to a restructured one-year deal with the quarterback on Monday.
All games against division rivals are crucial, even against a team that appears to be rebuilding after trading away quarterback Russell Wilson in the offseason. The 49ers and Seahawks are set to clash in Week 2, when starting quarterback Trey Lance will still be finding his footing, and Week 15 when San Francisco aims to be jockeying for playoff seeding.
San Francisco 49ers
Having Garoppolo on a rival sideline would make those matchups much more difficult, as he represents better talent at the position than Seattle's starter Geno Smith and also knows the 49ers' offense inside and out, even after operating without a playbook for all of training camp.
"It seems like everyone was just waiting for us to cut him before that so they could see how much they could get him for," Shanahan said on a conference call with reporters Tuesday. "But once the last Saturday preseason game happened and no one got injured, then Jimmy thought this was his best situation that he liked. And that's why we were so pumped, because it's obviously a better situation for the Niners."
Lombardi agreed with Shanahan's assessment.
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"Now, what [the 49ers] did was they made the best decision for them," Lombardi said. "I think Jimmy made the best decision for him because if he would go to Seattle behind a very young offensive line, behind a young team that looks like they are rebuilding, he may not have the same level of play to me than he would have in San Francisco."