49ers GM John Lynch denies saying he had offer of two second-round picks for Jimmy Garoppolo

San Francisco 49ers veteran quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo accepted a pay cut earlier this week to stay with the club and sit as the backup behind starter and 2021 rookie Trey Lance, but there remain plenty of questions about how everybody got to where they are ahead of the Labor Day holiday weekend. 

It was first reported on March 8 that Garoppolo underwent surgery on his throwing shoulder. Less than three weeks later, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio wrote that San Francisco general manager John Lynch was "telling interested teams that he (had) an offer in hand of two second-round picks for Garoppolo" at that time. Lynch recently hinted, though, that Garoppolo's decision to go under the knife when he did ended all trade conversations through at least the springtime months. 

Per David Bonilla of 49ers WebZone, Lynch attempted to clear the air Friday morning while on the "Murph & Mac" show that airs on San Francisco sports radio station KNBR. 

"I never said that," Lynch said about Florio's story. "We were in a bunch of talks with teams, and it was right about when we were at the combine, those talks were heating up. So conceptually, we had talked about a number of different things, and we were kind of looking and saying, 'OK, where is the best offer?'

"But then Jimmy and Dr. [Neal] ElAttrache and everybody made the decision that he needed something that we thought was going to just be a rest and rehab. We reevaluated, and [they said], 'The rest and rehab's not working. We're going to go ahead and have surgery.' And that happened while we were at the combine. 'And we're going to do it tomorrow.'"

Lynch then told teams about the procedure, which understandably halted trade talks. 

Garoppolo told a similar tale about his offseason experience when speaking with reporters on Thursday. 

"I really don't like to get surgery if I don't have to, so I was really in the thought of, 'I could rehab this thing. I played three or four games on it. Whatever. I think I can get through this,'" Jimmy G explained. "After about three, four weeks of that, it wasn't happening; it wasn't working. We were like, 'Alright, we've got to get the surgery.' That's when we made that choice, and I'm happy the way it worked out. I don't think it was the exact way I wanted it to work out, but everything happens for a reason."

Logic suggests Lynch happily would've taken two second-round picks for Garoppolo at any point before or after the shoulder surgery had that been offered. What's done is done, and Garoppolo is on track to be San Francisco's QB2 for the Week 1 matchup at the Chicago Bears on Sept. 11.