49ers reportedly plan to trade QB Jimmy Garoppolo in 2022

Jimmy Garoppolo has thrown for six touchdowns and just one interception in his last three games with the San Francisco 49ers, but it'd take Super Bowl contention to keep him from being traded by the team, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

"Absent a Super Bowl run, which at this point is still theoretically possible, this is the 49ers' plan next season: start Trey Lance, trade Jimmy Garoppolo. Not a surprise there, they've been pretty up front about that," Rapoport said on NFL Network on Sunday. "What Garoppolo is doing now is increasing the value of picks the 49ers get in a trade involving him, and they make it more likely that a place he wants to go would want to take him."

The 49ers drafted Lance with the third overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, but have used him sparingly so far in his rookie season. Lance's only significant play time came when Garoppolo exited a Week 4 game with a calf injury and was unavailable to play in Week 5. Lance threw for 192 yards in a start against the Arizona Cardinals with no touchdowns and one interception.

Garoppolo spent three-and-a-half seasons as Tom Brady's backup with the New England Patriots before he was traded to San Francisco in October 2017 for a second-round pick. After starting five games with the 49ers following the trade, Garoppolo was given a five-year contract extension in the 2018 offseason worth $137.5 million.

Garoppolo is set to have a $24.2 million base salary in the final season of his contract in 2022.