49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan does not see any way that quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo remains with the 49ers for next season, but one of the franchise’s greatest players thinks he should rethink that plan.
During an appearance on the Open Mike podcast with Mike Silver, Joe Montana shared his opinion of what the 49ers should do at quarterback in the wake of Brock Purdy’s elbow injury. Purdy is expected to miss six months after having surgery to repair the injury he suffered in the NFC Championship Game and Shanahan has indicated the team plans to go with Trey Lance as their other option at the position.
Montana said Garoppolo “won a lot of games before he got hurt” and handed Purdy a good team, while throwing in a reference to the transition to Steve Young that went on during Montana’s career.
“Well, I start Jimmy,” Montana said. “He has won a lot of games. I can’t say the same for Trey, right? You don’t know that from him. I don’t think it’s hard. I think you just start Jimmy.”
Montana has no role in the team’s decision-making process and Shanahan’s comments all but shut the door on the team re-signing Garoppolo, so it’s likelier that he’ll be following Montana’s lead by continuing his career with a different organization.