49ers CEO Jed York open to keeping Jimmy Garoppolo even as a backup?

Amid repeated rumors that the San Francisco 49ers could keep veteran quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for another year even as 2021 rookie Trey Lance is presumably ready to shift atop the depth chart at the position, general manager John Lynch raised eyebrows when he said at the NFL's annual meetings on Monday he does not "foresee" cutting Garoppolo; and, per Kevin Patra of the league's website, has even "budgeted for Garoppolo's $26.95 million cap hit" in 2022. 

Add 49ers CEO Jed York to the list of people within the franchise who have dropped hints that Garoppolo and Lance may remain teammates through at least the start of the summer months. 

"I’m not the coach. I’m not the general manager," York explained, according to Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. "They have my authority to put the roster together as they see fit. If that’s what it is, then as long as we’re competing and we’re winning football games, they have the ability to do what they think is best to help us win. We’ve made trades and we’ve had guys that are making a lot of money who haven’t been on the field. It’s easy to say your hypothetical question, like it’s easy to go to that one but it’s not about what is one individual piece. It’s, what’s the collective?

"If we think it’s the best decision to have two guys that we think are very, very capable of winning football games and giving us a chance to win the Super Bowl, there’s no position [that’s] more important than that in all of sports. So, if we’re going to over-invest in something, I’d rather over-invest in the quarterback position than anything else." 

Earlier in the day, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters a "scenario" exists that involves Garoppolo staying on the roster through the offseason as he recovers from surgery to repair a torn capsule in his throwing shoulder underwent earlier this month. Teams such as the Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, Pittsburgh Steelers, Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons have already added quarterbacks to their depth charts, so it's unclear what kind of trade market exists for the 30-year-old who recently played in the NFC Championship Game but also likely won't be completing meaningful throwing exercises before June. 

At this point, Shanahan and company may ultimately elect to allow Garoppolo to compete with Lance even if the latter begins that process as the club's QB1.