What is Jimmy Garoppolo worth in a trade?
That's the question perplexing the 49ers and prospective NFL teams right now. And the answer is different depending on one who you ask, and how they view Garoppolo.
Can the 49ers get a first-round draft pick to replenish the cupboard after trading the top picks in 2022 and 2023 to the Miami Dolphins to move up from No. 12 to No. 3 in this month's draft? Highly unlikely, unless another team gets really desperate.
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But former NFL executive and current ESPN analyst Mike Tannenbaum believes Garoppolo still is really good and would be willing to give up a high pick if he were still running a franchise.
"I think it's one of those things where it's always supply and demand, and another team has to sit there -- just to pick a team, like Chicago -- they, in my opinion, have a much better chance to win with Jimmy G than they do [Andy] Dalton," Tannenbaum told NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco on the latest episode of "49ers Talk."
"So if you're sitting there, and this is obviously a consequential year for Chicago, I would give up a [second-round draft pick] for Jimmy G if I could extend him a couple more years. Again, when he's played, he has played really well. Durability is a huge, huge factor."
Tannenbaum, who was the New York Jets' general manager and senior vice president of football operations from 2006 to '12 and the Miami Dolphins' executive vice president of football operations from 2015 to '18, did offer a word of warning to the 49ers for trading up to the No. 3 spot in the upcoming draft.
San Francisco 49ers
"The one statistic I would be concerned about if I was San Francisco, in the last 10 years, five times teams have traded up into the top three to get a quarterback and it was [Robert Griffin III], Carson Wentz, Jared Goff, Sam Darnold and Mitch Trubisky, and if and when Darnold is gone, none of those five are with the team that traded up for them," Tannenbaum told Maiocco in the interview recorded last week.
"So it's very hard. But look, Kyle Shanahan, who I've been a fan of for a while, has shown he can develop and win with different quarterbacks, and again, when I think about what they gave up, I think about of the three we've talked a lot about, I just think Mac Jones is the closest to what they've had in the past. And if and when they get a reasonable offer for Jimmy G, I expect them to make the trade."
Tannenbaum alluded to Darnold eventually being traded, and coincidentally, the Jets sent the 2018 No. 3 overall pick to the Carolina Panthers on Monday for a 2021 sixth-round draft pick, a 2022 second-round draft pick and a 2022 fourth-round draft pick.
While Tannenbaum would be willing to give up a second-round draft pick for Garoppolo, Maiocco wrote last week that the more likely price tag would be a third-round draft pick in addition to a current player on a roster who recently was drafted in the third round.
RELATED: Darnold deal shows 49ers' trade wasn't about Garoppolo
In 2018, the Kansas City Chiefs traded Alex Smith to Washington for cornerback Kendall Fuller Jr., who was a third-round pick two seasons earlier, and a future third-round pick. That's the kind of deal Maiocco could see the 49ers making for Garoppolo.
We might have to wait a while to find out what the price tag for Garoppolo is. General manager John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan have stated that they plan to hold on the Garoppolo for the 2021 season and develop the quarterback they draft with the No. 3 pick.
Publicly acknowledging they won't trade Garoppolo could be a smokescreen to drive up leverage in any possible trade before the 2021 season or they could actually mean what they are saying.
It's clear Garoppolo still has value in Tannenbaum's eyes. Whether or not current NFL executives feel the same way remains to be seen.