Carolina is scheduled to meet with veteran free agent quarterback Derek Carr this week in Indianapolis and will also get an up-close look at the top quarterbacks in this year's draft class.
But there is one other free agent that the Panthers may consider at some point this offseason, Jimmy Garoppolo.
"No, I don't see any scenario of that," 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said when asked if they would bring back Garoppolo. "I know we have two starters on our team right now that I believe we can win with, so when you have that situation you're not eager to go look around [for veterans]."
The Niners may not have room for Garoppolo, but Carolina does. The only two quarterbacks on the roster at the moment are Matt Corral and Jacob Eason. The front office has to bring in a veteran to bridge the gap to the face of the future whether that be Corral or someone in this draft.
The most ideal situation for the Panthers would be to sign someone like Garoppolo to a one-year deal and still draft a QB at No. 9 or somewhere within the top 10. However, ESPN analyst Tim Hasselbeck believes Carolina would be just fine if they can't select the guy they fall in love with in the draft.
"I think when you paint the picture of that team, you think they're close. And think about his, Jimmy Garoppolo, by the way, has had a lot of success playing in this league. He's not going to be crazy expensive because of his injury history, because of the situation in San Francisco and how that's all going to play out for him. So, he's kind of found himself in a unique situation where his leverage isn't where it would normally be for a guy that's accomplished as much as he's accomplished. And he told everybody I think it was in October or November, oh, by the way, Carolina is actually where I almost ended up. I just think that while drafting a quarterback and developing him, especially the guys that are there have a ton of faith that they would do a good job with that... listen, if you don't get the guy that you really like, that might end up being the better thing for you if you end up with Jimmy Garoppolo."
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