The potential star power available to the quarterback this off-season may be enough to profoundly alter the NFL scene. Deshaun Watson looks ready to leave Houston. Matthew Stafford is leaving Detroit and a solemn press conference by Aaron Rodgers has sparked speculation (emphasis on speculation) that he might end the Packers.
49ers may be looking for an upgrade to the quarterback, which means that any potentially available call signals will be linked to San Francisco and coach Kyle Shanahan. While this logic is valid, especially in the case of an obvious update on Garoppolo like Watson or Rodgers, it is important to keep a few things in mind.
First, there has been no substantial report linking the 49ers to any of the possible deals.
The Dolphins and Jets are the only teams mentioned in any report about Watson.
Stafford reports indicated that Lions are taking calls about an exchange now that they have agreed to part ways with their quarterback.
Rodgers just had a sad press conference that prompted some to read between the lines of his responses. There is still nothing on the table with him to indicate that he really wants to leave Green Bay.
The other thing to keep in mind is the 49ers’ position with Jimmy Garoppolo. Shanahan and general manager John Lynch have indicated that they expect Garoppolo to start next season.
Shanahan said that for San Francisco to have fun making a change to the quarterback, the player would need to be a significant upgrade. Accounting for the starting capital required to acquire a quarterback that represents the significant upgrade that 49ers would be looking for increases the risk factor in any risk-reward analysis for San Francisco.
It looks and sounds as if the 49ers coaching staff and board feel better about their chances with Garoppolo at the center than some fans and analysts. They said all the right things about QB, and their actions have confirmed that so far. They have not recruited a quarterback since they signed CJ Beathard in the third round of the 2017 draft. That can certainly change this year, with no quarterback besides Garoppolo and newsman Josh Johnson under contract for next season, but that cannot change the prospects of Garoppolo’s short term as the initial flag of San Francisco.
Shanahan has built a full list of game creators who can still produce yards and big moves, even with Garoppolo’s weaknesses pushing the ball into the field. Negotiating valuable starting capital in a year when the salary cap could become a problem and so many holes in the list would only make sense to a player who changed the franchise in the center.
Now, there is a discussion to be made about Garoppolo’s long-term future with San Francisco.
They chose not to renew it, although it could possibly free up some money in the short term, and their injury problems are a real concern for a team that appears to be in the middle of a championship window. Not to mention Garoppolo’s deficiencies as a defender, they are probably not something that Shanahan will want to make up for in the next decade.
Still, this does not mean that they will certainly make a move for an available quarterback, and it would not be a surprise if they never ended up becoming a real factor.
Watson has a no-trade clause that can allow him to determine where to play. If the 49ers are not a team he prefers, there is nothing San Francisco can do about it.
Stafford has less control, but Lions may be willing to work with him if their relationship is still friendly. There is also a chance that Stafford will not meet the update limit Shanahan says he demands to leave Garoppolo.
Rodgers may not even want to trade, so one will be in the background for now. Even so, he will have a bit of an advantage where 49ers could be a factor if he didn’t want to go there.
The 49ers need to discover their long-term answer in the quarterback soon. It is the most important position on the pitch and Garoppolo may not be the player they will build around. However, this does not mean that they need to do something drastic in 2021. Just because there may be defenders on the move does not mean that San Francisco is guaranteed to be involved. And in the end, they may not have much of a choice.