Three decades ago, the 49ers had two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks on their roster in Steve Young and Joe Montana. While the quarterback soap opera dominated the headlines, the 49ers pressed on and nearly made to the Super Bowl with Young behind center and Montana watching from the sideline.
While neither one is currently being compared to either Young or Montana, the 49ers have a current situation brewing with quarterbacks Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo. Garoppolo remains on the 49ers' roster despite GM John Lynch acknowledging that the team was in talks with other teams regarding a trade. With Garoppolo still on the team, one might assume that that would create added pressure for Lance to perform right out of the gate in what will be his first season as San Francisco's full-time starting quarterback.
Lynch, however, put such thoughts to rest while offering his support in the 49ers' new field general.
"Just like we've stated many times, we're very committed to Trey Lance," Lynch said on KNBR's "Murph & Mac" show. "We've got a lot of believe in Trey."
Lynch went on to say that the team feels particularly good about the entire quarterback room, a room that also includes Garoppolo and rookie Brock Purdy, a seventh-round pick who threw for over 12,100 yards and 81 touchdowns during his four years at Iowa State.
Prior to the team's recent restructure of Garoppolo's contract, 49ers owner Jed York said that he was supportive of Garoppolo coming back into the fold, despite the narratives and distractions that come with a quarterback controversy.
"I've said this before, you can't have enough good quarterbacks and good football players," York told The Athletic's Tim Kawakami. "I'm not going to get into roster discussions and what John (Lynch) and Kyle (Shanahan) want to do. But I will support them in sort of anything that they want to make this team as good as it can possibly be.
"I watched it with Joe and Steve, and I realize the salary cap is different today than having no salary cap. But we've said it before: We're happy to keep Jimmy. We're happy to have him on the roster. And if that's the case, then that's the case."
As York alluded to, the 49ers have a history of having two quality quarterbacks on the roster. Young was an occasional substitute for Montana when the 49ers won back-to-back titles to close out the 1980s. When Montana missed the entire 1991 season with an injury, Young led the 49ers to a 10-6 season. Young won the first of two MVP awards the following season and led San Francisco to the franchise's most recent Super Bowl win in 1994. By that time, Montana was closing out a Hall of Fame career as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs.
York and the 49ers certainly won't wait as long to move on from Garoppolo as they did with Montana, the favorite player of York's uncle, former 49ers owner and Hall of Famer Eddie DeBartolo. But, based on the 49ers' recent actions, it is clear that the franchise is in no rush to part ways with the quarterback who last season helped the 49ers reach their second NFC Championship game in three years. It's also clear that Lance won't have to look over his shoulder if he gets off to a slow start this season.
