Free agency and the NFL Draft have both passed on the NFL calendar, and Jimmy Garoppolo is still a member of the San Francisco 49ers. While most of the football landscape expected the club to move on from the 30-year-old by this point and officially usher in the Trey Lance era after drafting him No. 3 overall last year, it simply hasn't happened yet.
While speaking to reporters Tuesday, Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked specifically about the status of Garoppolo, who is still recovering from right shoulder surgery he underwent earlier this offseason.
"I expect him at some time, most likely, to be traded, but who knows? That's not a guarantee," Shanahan said. "It's been on hold when (surgery) happened. When he's healthy, we will see what happens."
Garoppolo's thumb injury captured headlines throughout San Francisco's playoff run, but he was also dealing with this shoulder issue that he originally suffered during the team's wild-card win over the Dallas Cowboys. Naturally, teams wouldn't want to trade for a quarterback who technically isn't cleared to start throwing at this point, so it makes sense that Shanahan pointed to the injury as what put trade talks on hold.
According to a report from ESPN earlier this month, Garoppolo's shoulder is expected to get the all-clear in late June or early July.
The writing has been on the wall for Garoppolo's departure ever since the team selected Lance last offseason. Despite having success with Garoppolo when he's been under center, his lack of durability has derailed a number of seasons for Shanahan's club and was the driving force to move up to take Lance.
While Shanahan has left the door open for the 49ers to keep Garoppolo, there is a case to be made to have a clean break and clear the way for Lance to fully assume the QB1 role as opposed to having another signal-caller who took this team to Super Bowl LIV lurking on the sideline. Given that Garoppolo also carries a $26.95 million cap hit this year, it doesn't make much financial sense to keep him on the roster at that number, either.
