To the casual NFL observer, there 49ers’ decision to keep Jimmy Garoppolo for the time being might come with some risk.
After restructuring his deal, Garoppolo no longer is a financial burden for San Francisco and the organization really couldn’t ask for a better backup quarterback situation. That said, it’s fair to wonder how Garoppolo’s presence in the Bay Area might impact Trey Lance’s psyche. After all, we’re talking about a quarterback who led the Niners to two NFC Championship Games and a Super Bowl and is very well-liked in the locker room.
But as head coach Kyle Shanahan explained Tuesday, Lance was on board with the 49ers’ decision to have Garoppolo on the roster entering the 2022 NFL season.
“Trey was great,” Shanahan told reporters, as transcribed by 49ers Webzone. “There were no problems with it at all. I told him the exact same things that I told Jimmy. The option of bringing Jimmy here, that it had to be in a backup type deal, which Jimmy knew that was his option and that was the only option. And we told that to Trey also. Trey and Jimmy have a great relationship. Trey actually likes having Jimmy in the building and Trey was very grateful to how Jimmy was to him last year. And we feel very strongly from the two people that Jimmy will give that back to Trey this year. He’ll do for Trey, what Jimmy did for him in the year before.”
Shanahan added: “…When I told Trey that Jimmy’s going to come back, he’s like, ‘Awesome. That dude was awesome for me last year. I can’t wait to be the same way.’ So I think when you have a quarterback room where people do like each other, it makes it more fun to come to work, because you are in that room a lot together. And I know those dudes do like each other. They got some different skill sets, so they both can learn stuff from each other just by watching each other. And the more football, the more they are around each other and the more they talk, usually that rubs off, both ways.”
Oddsmakers also don’t see Garoppolo bogging down Lance, who has shorter 2022 MVP odds at DraftKings Sportsbook than more than half of the starting quarterbacks in the league.
