The San Francisco 49ers need to get Jimmy Garoppolo to a new team ASAP. Here are some trades that should still go down this Summer.
The 2022 NFL Draft has been over for a few weeks, and the San Francisco 49ers still have Jimmy Garoppolo on the 2022 payroll.
The bad news for Jimmy Garoppolo at this point? He’s still on the 49ers and teams around the league have been making moves to address the position.
The good news for him? There are still teams whose QB situations look terrible even after the Draft.
Garoppolo is a solid starting QB in the NFL today. He isn’t in the elite tier, by any stretch, but he could substantially upgrade some situations around the league, and the 49ers obviously could get some good value for him now that they won’t be able to get when he becomes a free agent after this season.
Garoppolo’s base salary of over $24 million is obviously in the 49ers’ 2022 budget, but what situations out there right now does Garoppolo really fit in?
What situations could he come in and actually help?
Maybe the better question is — what situations could he come into and thrive?
There are a handful, no doubt.
Let’s take a look through some Jimmy Garoppolo trade destinations I hope we might still see this Summer.
The clock is ticking.
Trade no. 1: Jimmy Garoppolo to the Houston Texans
I think you’ve really got to weigh the pros and cons with this potential landing spot.
The Houston Texans are sort of playing with house money in 2022 given the fact they are one year into a massive roster overhaul, and they just traded the team’s former franchise player — QB Deshaun Watson — for a bounty of draft picks that will be their building blocks for years to come.
The Texans have less than $5 million in available salary cap space, so the financials of this particular deal would have to be adjusted significantly to make it work.
In addition to the salary cap hurdles, the Texans have their top pick from 2021 — quarterback Davis Mills — already under contract and projected to start in 2022.
With that all being said, Houston has added some nice pieces in the 2022 offseason and they have reloaded their offense quite nicely.
There’s no doubting the fact that Texans GM Nick Caserio would be open to adding another former Patriots player to his roster, especially a veteran quarterback of Garoppolo’s caliber that could potentially help Houston compete in a relatively open AFC South.
At least, it looks open on paper, in my early estimation.
Houston’s roster certainly is a ways away from being competitive enough to do damage in the near future as-is, but with Jimmy Garoppolo distributing the ball to their targets, you might raise the floor enough to contend in a division where nine wins might be good enough to get into the playoffs this year.
Trade idea no. 2: Jimmy Garoppolo to the Chicago Bears
Alright, let’s cue up all of the Chicago Bears fans who will be irate over this suggestion.
Maybe the Bears are more likely the type of team that would sign Garoppolo in 2023 free agency if that is his ultimate destiny, but with some of the most available cap space in the NFL, new general manager Ryan Poles might consider this option, at least for the right price.
Jimmy Garoppolo played his college ball in Illinois, so playing for the Bears would be a homecoming for him.
If the 49ers were willing to pay half (or more) of Garoppolo’s salary and the Bears didn’t have to give up anything more than a future third-round pick, is this the kind of trade new GM Ryan Poles would entertain?
It’s become borderline blasphemous or sacrilegious to suggest anything other than Justin Fields as the anointed and chosen one for the Chicago Bears franchise.
It’s understandable that Bears fans do not want to give up on Fields after one bad rookie season, because young QBs should be allowed to take their lumps.
However, new GM Ryan Poles did not draft Fields. Oftentimes when you see a new regime coming in for an organization at GM and/or head coach, that is soon followed by a change at the QB position because those guys want to attach their names to guys they actually picked.
Garoppolo coming into Chicago for a year wouldn’t have to mean the end of Justin Fields. It could propel him to new heights while also significantly raising the floor of Chicago’s QB room.
Again, I’m not saying this is going to happen or that I want to see Garoppolo come in and replace Fields, but if the price is right, there is merit to the idea of Chicago acquiring Garoppolo if they have aims on competing in 2022 and Fields struggles early on.
Trade no. 3: Jimmy Garoppolo to the Carolina Panthers
As of today — May 17, 2022 — it’s possible that the Carolina Panthers have the worst and least-inspiring QB situation in the entire NFL heading into the 2022 season.
The Panthers still have Sam Darnold under contract.
They traded up in the 2022 NFL Draft to select Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral, who has been making his way back from an injury suffered in the Ole Miss bowl game earlier this year.
Corral is going to need some time to develop (and heal) in his rookie year.
Sam Darnold is horrendous and at this point, he cannot be trusted at all.
The Carolina Panthers under GM Scott Fitterer and head coach Matt Rhule have been nothing if not willing to wheel and deal when it comes to talking trades.
To me, they are the team that makes the most sense when it comes to a potential landing spot for Jimmy Garoppolo, at least from their perspective (not necessarily Garoppolo’s).
The Panthers have been aggressive in rebuilding their roster over the last couple of years.
They have remained aggressive in 2022.
They upgraded their offensive line this offseason with center Bradley Bozeman, guard Austin Corbett, and left tackle Ikem Ekwonu, the team’s top pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
They have a healthy group of offensive skill players with Christian McCaffrey hopefully (finally) back to his old form.
The Panthers have the most cap space in the NFL right now and they have the ability to bring in Jimmy Garoppolo without changing anything about their roster.
This is a trade that simply has to happen especially considering the fact that jobs are on the line. There’s no way the Panthers can go into this season with Darnold as QB1.
Matt Corral almost undoubtedly will not be ready.
Jimmy Garoppolo took his team most recently to the NFC Championship game. Although he wasn’t the sole reason for that, by any means, it’s happened twice in the last three years.
The Panthers must trade for Jimmy Garoppolo this Summer.