San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch held a press conference on Monday, just a few days ahead of the 2021 NFL Draft.
The focus was on whom the 49ers might be selecting No. 3 overall in the annual event after pulling off a blockbuster trade from the 12th selection. Right now, suggestions indicate that San Francisco will choose between Trey Lance and Mac Jones to be the heir apparent to current starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
In discussing Garoppolo’s future with the 49ers, Shanahan was asked if he can guarantee that the Super Bowl quarterback will be on the roster come Sunday. The head coach seemingly broke some news in the process.
“I can’t guarantee that anyone in the world will be alive someday, so I can’t guarantee that anyone will be on our roster on Sunday,” Shanahan said when asked whether Garoppolo would be on the roster when the 2021 NFL Draft concludes this weekend.
That’s pretty much the first direct quote from Shanahan concluding that there’s a chance that the 49ers move off their injury-plagued starting quarterback.
A lot of this will depend upon whom the San Francisco 49ers select with the third pick. Jones is seen as more pro-ready than Lance. If the Alabama quarterback is the pick, Garoppolo could very well be traded. If it’s Lance, the idea would be for him to sit behind Garoppolo for a year.
Either way we look at it, the next several days will be franchise-defining for Shanahan and the 49ers. If they firmly believe that an unnamed rookie quarterback can start out of the gate, moving off Garoppolo in a trade could make sense.
We’ve seen lesser quarterbacks net a nice return thus far this offseason. After trading two future first-round picks and a 2022 third-round selection to move up to three, the 49ers certainly need to recoup some draft capital once the annual event kicks off in Cleveland on Thursday.
More must-reads:
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!