49ers' Jed York Invites Comparing Lance, Garoppolo to Montana, Young QB Situation

Few organizations in NFL history know about the quarterback-transition process better than the San Francisco 49ers.

San Francisco owner Jed York said if the comparison of going from Jimmy Garoppolo to Trey Lance invokes memories of when the team went from Joe Montana to Steve Young, he would be "up for that problem any day."

The Montana-Young era was significantly different from what is going on with Lance and Garoppolo. 

An elbow injury forced Montana to miss the entire 1991 season and most of the 1992 season. Young, who was five years younger, threw for 2,517 yards and 17 touchdowns in 11 games. He missed five games with a knee injury. 

Montana didn't return from the elbow issue until the final regular-season game in 1992. Young was named NFL MVP that year after leading the league with a 66.7 completion percentage and 25 touchdowns. 

Speaking at an NFL fan forum event in 2013 (h/t Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group), Montana described his relationship with Young when they were teammates:

"It’s a team game but it all starts with individual efforts. So my job with Steve was basically to make sure he stayed behind me. The game is not the same when you stand on the sideline with your uniform on. After you experience that, you don’t want to be anywhere else. We had a working relationship. But it was one of those things where I didn’t care if it was Steve Young, Steve Bono, Steve DeBerg—I had a whole bunch of Steves—it didn’t matter who it was for me. It was my job that I felt I had to make sure they stayed over there watching me as long as possible. But it’s a competitive relationship. … I didn’t feel bad for him."

There didn't seem to be any tension between Garoppolo and Lance last season. After leading the 49ers to a 23-7 win over the Houston Texans in Week 16 when Garoppolo was injured, Lance spoke about the support he received from his fellow quarterback. 

"Yeah, I've said a million times, Jimmy is one of the best teammates and leaders I've ever been around," Lance told reporters. "So for me to have him, I know he's got my back on the sideline, whether good play or bad."

There was an expectation that Garoppolo would be traded at some point this offseason. He had shoulder surgery earlier this month that has complicated the situation. 

San Francisco general manager John Lynch told reporters this week that the team doesn't plan to cut Garoppolo, who has a $25.55 million cap hit in 2022, if no trade offer materializes. 

The 49ers have had tremendous success over the past three seasons with Garoppolo as their starting quarterback. He has a 25-12 record in the regular season during that span. The team has played in two of the past three NFC Championship Games and made Super Bowl 54. 

Eventually, the Lance era will begin in San Francisco, but Garoppolo's success at least gives the organization a solid fallback plan if it doesn't like the trade offers it receives this offseason.