It’s been two weeks since the 49ers made it clear that quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo won’t be on the team this season, but that he will remain technically on the roster for now, while they hope to finagle some/any trade value for him.
Coach Kyle Shanahan was asked on Tuesday whether there’s any current trade interest in the man who took the 49ers to Super Bowl LIV and nearly to Super Bowl LVI.
“I believe that goes on with his agents, but none that I hear of,” Shanahan told reporters.
He aded that he’s heard of no offers for Garoppolo, either.
This means that any interested team is biding its time, knowing Garoppolo eventually will be cut. And that the 49ers haven’t cut him because circumstances will change, quickly and dramatically, if a starter with another team gets injured.
(Or, frankly, if San Francisco’s starter gets injured.)
For now, Garoppolo continues to come and go as he pleases. He’s on board with the strategy, because if a starter goes down elsewhere (or in San Francisco) he becomes far more likely to make something far closer than the $24.2 million salary that he’ll lose once he’s cut.
Even though the rosters reduce to 53 three weeks from today, his salary doesn’t become guaranteed, as a practical matter, until September 10. We’ll see whether the 49ers carry him for an extra 12 days, as they continue to wait and hope that a starting quarterback goes down -- and that the market for Garoppolo goes up.
Currently, it has nowhere to go but up.