Rival Coach: It'd Be a Christmas Gift If 49ers Trade Jimmy G and Start Trey Lance
July 25, 2022
It turns out not everyone is sold on Trey Lance as the San Francisco 49ers' starting quarterback.
A coach whose team plays the 49ers this season told Mike Sando of The Athletic that it would be an "early Christmas present" if San Francisco traded Jimmy Garoppolo in favor of Lance.
“That would be like my early Christmas present if they just get rid of Jimmy, so that way he can’t play for them, and then make Trey be your guy,” the coach said.
It's almost certain the 49ers plan to grant the coach his wish. The team has spent the entire offseason searching for a trade partner for Garoppolo and recently gave the veteran quarterback's agent permission to seek a deal.
The trade market has been slow for Garoppolo as he's been recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. He is yet to be fully cleared for on-field work and will likely begin training camp on the sidelines or working on an extremely limited basis.
The 49ers pushed their chips to the middle of the table in the 2021 draft to select Lance, who they viewed as a developmental star while Garoppolo served as a stopgap last season. Lance was inconsistent in his playing time last season, which included a pair of starts with Garoppolo injured. The North Dakota State product threw for 603 yards and five touchdowns against two interceptions while also adding 168 yards and a score on the ground.
While Lance's rushing ability gives him a dynamic Garoppolo does not possess, Lance completed only 57.7 percent of his passes and was erratic with his accuracy last season. Some of that can be attributed to a finger injury that adjusted his throwing grip, but Lance looked very much like a work in progress.
Opposing coaches certainly have a higher view of Garoppolo than Lance. Sando's polling of NFL quarterbacks had Jimmy G ranked 16th and Lance all the way back at No. 29.