Jimmy Garoppolo Trade Rumors: Latest Buzz on 49ers' Timeline for Potential Deal

The San Francisco 49ers' 2021 season ended with a loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship Game. At that point, trade rumors involving 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo ramped up. Yet nearly two months later, the 30-year-old remains on San Francisco's roster.

It seemed like a sure thing that the 49ers would be trading Garoppolo this offseason. He has a $26.95 million cap hit in 2022, the final year of his contract, and San Francisco appears ready to turn over its offense to Trey Lance, who was selected with the No. 3 overall pick in last year's NFL draft.

However, it doesn't seem like any deal for Garoppolo is particularly close.

During an appearance on NFL Network on Monday, insider Ian Rapoport said that the Pittsburgh Steelers had conversations with the 49ers regarding Garoppolo, but they are now set to sign free agent Mitchell Trubisky to a two-year deal. Rapoport also noted that the Indianapolis Colts had discussed Garoppolo with San Francisco but said that there's "nothing imminent there."

He added of trade talks, "That situation appears now to have hit a little bit of a pause."

According to Rapoport, the 49ers aren't in a rush to trade Garoppolo as he recovers from right shoulder surgery and the Colts "seem content on waiting."

Perhaps talks between San Francisco and Indianapolis will pick back up at a later point. The Colts are going to need to address their starting quarterback role after they traded Carson Wentz to the Washington Commanders earlier this offseason. Sam Ehlinger and James Morgan are the only quarterbacks on Indianapolis' roster.

NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported Monday that the 49ers' asking price for Garoppolo is "likely a second-round pick and more." So it will be interesting to see whether either the Colts or a different team will be willing to send that much to San Francisco in a deal.

Garoppolo began his NFL career with the New England Patriots before he was traded to the 49ers on Oct. 31, 2017. He's played 46 games for San Francisco over the past five seasons, most notably helping the Niners reach the Super Bowl in the 2019 campaign.

This past season, Garoppolo passed for 3,810 yards, 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 15 games. He's proved he can lead a team to success, and he will almost certainly end up in a starting role once he's out of San Francisco.

Will that be in Indianapolis? What other teams could show interest this offseason? It may depend on what other moves involving quarterbacks are made. The Houston Texans' Deshaun Watson and the Cleveland Browns' Baker Mayfield are among the other signal-callers being mentioned in trade rumors.

So for now, Garoppolo must wait to see what happens before knowing where he will be playing next season and beyond.