The San Francisco 49ers have made things official with their starting quarterback. On Tuesday 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan announced they have “moved on” to Trey Lance, meaning that Jimmy Garoppolo likely won’t be with the team once the season begins. This comes shortly after the 49ers granted Garoppolo permission to seek a trade to another team.
“We have moved on to Trey,” Shanahan said, per ESPN. “This is Trey’s team. That’s nothing against Jimmy. We made that decision a year ago and we’re going with that. We’re not going to mess around with that anymore. Jimmy understands that fully. That’s a business decision and that’s what makes it not awkward. Jimmy knows we’re going with Trey. Trey knows we’re going with Trey and our team does, and everyone likes both of those guys.”
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Garoppolo met with Shanahan and general manager John Lynch on Tuesday morning to discuss his future with the team. Graoppolo, who won two Super Bowls as a backup QB for the New England Patriots, is still recovering from right shoulder surgery he had in March but has been cleared to practice. The 49ers will continue to look for a team that wants to acquire Garoppolo while the veteran quarterback will continue to recover from his surgery.
“We spoke when he left and we had a pretty good understanding of what was going on, and because of the surgery and the ramifications of that in other teams’ eyes, nothing has transpired as of yet,” Lynch said. “But he’s here, he’s reported, we’ll see what happens in the physical and we’ll move forward accordingly.”
Garoppolo spent his first three and a half seasons with the Patriots (2014-2017). He was traded to the 49ers midway through the 2017 season and has been the team’s starting quarterback ever since. Garoppolo has missed time due to multiple injuries but has had success with the team as he led them to a Super Bowl appearance in 2019 and an NFC Championship game appearance last year. In April 2021, the 49ers selected Trey Lance No. 3 overall in the NFL Draft. He played in six games for the 49ers last year and threw for 603 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions. He also rushed for 168 yards and one touchdown on 38 carries.
