49ers (for now) quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo made a mini-media tour on Thursday, at a time when his situation continues to be shrouded in uncertainty. In addition to comments about Deebo Samuel and the “strange” 2021 season given the team’s move for Trey Lance, Garoppolo provided an update on his surgically-repaired shoulder.
Will Garoppolo be ready for training camp? He told this to Rob Maaddi of the Associated Press: “There’s a lot of steps in between now and then but I think we’ll be ready by then.”
It’s a huge factor when it comes to the question of whether the 49ers will find a trade partner for Garoppolo, who has a compensation package in excess of $25 million for 2022, the final season of his contract. If he won’t be ready until camp -- and if there’s a chance he won’t even be ready by then -- why would any team trade for him now?
Garoppolo’s decision to go public on Thursday is intriguing. All in all, his comments won’t make it any easier for the 49ers to trade him. It also won’t make it any easier for the 49ers to sell the ruse that they’d actually keep him into the regular season, at which time he’d be guaranteed to make every penny of the $25 million.
Currently, there are no guarantees for Garoppolo. If the 49ers play it out until the days preceding the start of the regular season and then cut Garoppolo, he gets nothing. And he’d land on the market at a time when all other depth charts are set.
Unlike Baker Mayfield, who is guaranteed to make $18.8 million in 2022, Garoppolo is guaranteed to make nothing. The sooner he finds a new team, the sooner he knows that he’ll be making something this year.
Thus, Garoppolo has every reason to agitate for an immediately exit ramp. He has every reason to ask to be released. He has every reason to persuade the 49ers not to overplay their hand and/or overthink their situation in an effort to emerge from the inevitable divorce with a draft pick or two. At some point, it undermines the effort to prepare for 2022. At some point, it undermines the development of Trey Lance.