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Jimmy Garoppolo, quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, has been the subject of trade rumors with fans and analysts suggesting it is time for the franchise to look towards the future and Trey Lance in 2022, whom they selected with the third overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft.
Damien Woody, who is an NFL analyst for ESPN following a 12-year career in the league, believes the trade rumors surrounding Garoppolo are only hindering the 49ers and hurting the squad's morale.
The two-time Super Bowl champion, speaking on ESPN's NFL Live, said:
"Listen, you bring up a lot of good points. But here's what I'm saying. Here's what I'm gonna say to you. These coaches, they see these guys in practice all the time.
"The fact that you trade away all those assets and go get the quarterback at number three. And then he didn't really play much at all this year tells me that he wasn't ready. He wasn't ready to play."
Woody, a former offensive lineman, believes morale in the locker room may be affected if the 49ers decide to trade Garoppolo. He said:
"Jimmy Garoppolo didn't have a great year. And the fact that Trey Lance didn't really get much burn this year? I don't think Kyle Shanahan had that much confidence in him. Now I will say going into the offseason, now he can go ahead and get more reps and turn this into a true quarterback competition and let the best man win.
"But as far as the team is concerned? The thing you gotta worry about is the locker room. There's a bunch of veteran players in that locker room. They understand they have a small window right now to try to win the chip.
"And so those guys are not going to look at it well if you just outright deal Jimmy Garoppolo away, and just hand it over to a guy that wasn't ready to ready to take the reins of the quarterback position."
Where would the 49ers trade Jimmy Garoppolo and why?
The where is a bit more complex than the why. The 49ers are in need of freeing up some cap space in order to pay star players Deebo Samuel and Nick Bosa. Trading Jimmy G would be the obvious way to create some funds.
Now, where would Garoppolo go? A number of teams are in need of a quarterback, such as the Denver Broncos, Pittsburgh Steelers and maybe even the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, following Tom Brady's retirement, but trading him isn't definite just yet.
With young quarterback Lance waiting to take over the keys to the 49ers offense, San Francisco has a decision to make regarding who they want to lead their franchise forward in 2022 and beyond.
