San Francisco 49ers: 5 Reasons Jimmy Garoppolo trade is brilliant
4. Flexibility in 2018 free agency
One of the big assumptions by many people (myself included) has been that the 49ers would be heavy players in trying to sign current Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins in free agency. Given his connection with Shanahan, it made sense that would be the case. However, they’ll now be able to re-sign Garoppolo for a much cheaper rate than it would’ve taken to land the man currently in D.C. More importantly, that opens more doors for them.
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To be clear, the 49ers were going to have a ton of salary cap room regardless. When you have a team constructed as theirs is, you don’t exactly get close to the cap ceiling, and they aren’t even within a stone’s throw of it. However, now that they don’t have to worry about putting as significant of a portion of that room towards the quarterback position. Yes, Garoppolo will get paid, but not to the degree that Cousins will.
And for San Francisco, that’s huge. That makes them potential players for other guys who could be key pieces for them. Targeting players such as Trumaine Johnson or Malcolm Butler at cornerback would tremendously help the defense. Going after receivers like Jarvis Landry or Alshon Jeffery would also be massively important for an offense lacking weapons. They now not only have more money to throw at those guys, but also have a viable quarterback to attract those players with.