The San Francisco 49ers brought in Jimmy Garoppolo this week, and despite some viewing it as a chance to get a six- or seven-game tryout for the QB before paying him with either a lucrative long-term deal or an even more lucrative franchise tag, the Niners' brass made it fairly clear Tuesday they view the former New England Patriot as a franchise QB.
One of the biggest reasons why? Per John Lynch, coughing up a high second-rounder for a tryout is not something he'd do.
"Honest to God, we need to get him in the playbook, that's where we're going to start, first things first. But I can tell you, second-round picks are very valuable in this league," the 49ers general manager said, "particularly where we are at as an organization, and so this is a guy you want and were willing to give what we thought was a very valuable commodity in exchange for him. So we're excited moving forward that he's going to be a part of our future."
Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan said consistently Tuesday they view Garoppolo as a long-term answer at the quarterback position. And some wonder if that were the case, why not just wait until he's a free agent this offseason to nab him and keep the second-round pick that the Niners value greatly? But San Francisco looks like it didn't want to get in a bidding war with other QB-needy teams for Garoppolo this offseason and risk the chance of losing him.
"We would love for him to help us right now. But this is more about the big picture, too," Shanahan said. "You can look into anything about when and why, but it's hard to find, it's hard to get opportunities in this league, and I've seen this my whole career, but it's hard to come across opportunities to get guys that you believe have a chance to be your quarterback for a while. I think every team is looking for that except for probably six teams. And when those opportunities come around, if you believe that's the case, you don't hesitate and you don't hold back."
That appears to be the reason why the 49ers aren't rushing Garoppolo onto the field. Shanahan said the newly acquired QB will "definitely" not play this week against the Arizona Cardinals and will be week to week after that.
As for Garoppolo, a player Shanahan said he "felt very good about" when he was evaluating the Eastern Illinois quarterback in the 2014 draft process, he wasn't ready to commit to any long-term statements, saying he'll take things with the Niners day by day after just arriving in the Bay Area on Tuesday morning.
"I guess it's a we'll see what happens type of thing," Garoppolo said of his future in San Francisco. "Thrilled to be here. I just got here this morning, and I couldn't be happier. But just got to take it week by week right now. I got a whole playbook to learn, the terminology, I mean it's going to be like learning a different language. I'm looking forward to the challenge, and enjoying the process."
