Some crazy moves the 49ers could technically make (but won’t because this is just for fun during quarantine)

We are all very bored being stuck inside with nothing to do. We are searching for something that intrigues us. We are starting to use our imaginations. 

Well, I decided to use my imagination to come up with some crazy moves the 49ers could technically pursue if they were in the mood to go crazy. This is just for some fun and shouldn’t be taken too seriously (unless I somehow wind up being right). So just enjoy while sitting in again today.

Acquire Christian McCaffrey:

Jumping right in here with a big one. There are no indications the Panthers would trade the best player in the NFL. But with coaching changes, you never know. The Panthers already got rid of their other face of the franchise in Newton. Maybe Matt Rhule has a different plan and we know RBs usually fall off after given a contract. The Panthers may not want to commit to a huge contract to the young phenom despite how good he is now. If the Panthers aren’t willing to pay McCaffrey, they should ship him off now at his highest trade value for more top picks because many don’t see them contending the next two seasons with him. 

The 2017 1st-round pick would be perfect for Shanahan and the offense would be unstoppable with him. He’s a back they can use to run, but he wouldn’t have to carry the load given their other options. He’s the best receiving threat RB in the league and Shanahan’s offense in San Francisco has been missing that. McCaffrey would make defenses have to do everything right to even hold them under 35 points. And with their defense, they’d become the easy Super Bowl favorite with him. 

With 2 years left on his rookie deal as the 5th year option would be exercised, he’d give the 49ers a legitimate Super Bowl chance for at least two seasons. The cost would likely be at least picks 13 and 31 (or 13 and the 49ers 1st next year) in the draft plus maybe more. The cap situation with him can be figured out. The 49ers wouldn’t pick until day 3 in this scenario, but they’d have the best player in the league in that offense. Don’t think they’d cry over it. Panthers would have three 1st round picks with this and Matt Rhule could really create HIS roster. Both teams get what they’d need really. It’s a crazy thought but there’s at least a bit of room where it makes sense. 

Trade for Odell Beckham Jr:

This one isn’t as crazy as the last one, but it would still be kind of crazy if it happened. This 49ers regime has liked him but couldn’t get a trade done with the Giants for him before they shipped him to Cleveland. 

He was good but not top-tier in 2019, but he was dealing with a lingering core muscle injury the whole year and the Browns offense was anemic at times with Mayfield having a bad sophomore slump. The fact he got over 1000 yards despite it all is nothing short of amazing. He’d certainly do way better healthy in Shanahan’s offense.

I doubt he’d cost the 13th overall pick as he wasn’t even worth that last season. The 31st pick and some more for him could be a possibility, even if insider Jay Glazer downplayed the possibility of a trade of OBJ happening. 

Trade up in draft to take Chase Young:

The 49ers selected Ohio State DE Nick Bosa in last year’s draft. For the second straight year, an OSU DE is projected to go top 5, maybe even 2nd again (though the QB situation could change that). The 49ers don’t really need another pass-rusher and really more so need an interior lineman to replace Buckner. But if they really wanted another impact player on that line, Young is far and away the best in the draft. They would certainly have to trade picks 13 and 31 to move up to get him. Though, perhaps they could make a different kind of deal structure that involves not giving up both 1sts this year. It would cost two 1sts though, even if Young falls a bit due to QB craziness. They technically have the draft ammo to make this trade now that they have 13th overall. File this one under pipe dream though too, even if it could work. 

Draft a Quarterback:

For whatever reason, the talk of Shanahan not wanting Garoppolo won’t go away. It’s enough out there, from even some people that could be in the know, that it’s now a discussion topic that we can’t fully laugh off. 

The QB craziness is likely to be hectic in the 1st round this year. Burrow and Tua are almost guaranteed top 5 picks, possibly the top 2 picks. And Herbert might go top 10 too. Even Jordan Love could go top half of the first round. Names like Jacob Eason, Jake Fromm and Jalen Hurts are also notable QB prospects. 

If the 49ers really don’t trust Garoppolo and want to put him on the clock, this would be the perfect draft for them to make that move. 

If Herbert falls to 13, which is at least possible, they could take him (or even trade up for him if they really wanted). Or they could take Jordan Love. Or they could take a chance on a Fromm, Eason or Hurts at either 31 or they trade down somewhere to take one with a 2nd or 3rd round pick. The latter would be more likely. 

They would have to be careful here as a QB being drafted could mess with Garoppolo, even if it’s meant to push him while also being a possible option to replace him in 2021 if things go wrong. 

But if they take a QB with a good pedigree in this draft like Herbert, Love or even Eason, and Garoppolo winds up taking that step forward, the 49ers could send that QB they drafted away in a trade for a nice return. 

Given what has been rumored about Garoppolo, this possibility at least cannot be ruled out. And with two 1st round picks, anything is possible. 

None of these are going to happen (unless they do). This is all just for good fun to give us something to do during our days indoors. 

Legitimacy questions will surround MLBs shortened season

The MLB’s season is totally up in the air with the coronavirus concerns lingering. Whether they have a season at all is a question, but it’s a certainty they will have a shortened season even if they are able to play.

The likelihood seems to be that they play anywhere from 60-80 games with 90-100 being very optimistic. 

And this brings up an interesting discussion topic to the table. Would the 2020 World Series champion be considered legitimate? 

MLB is in a unique spot where, unlike the NBA and NHL which have about 85-90% of their schedules done, the MLB has no games played. And they are only gonna play about half their scheduled games or even less. That’s a detrimental decrease. 

Baseball is a sport that needs a ton of games in order to arrive at a legitimate outcome. That’s why they play 162 games and they play nothing but series (besides the outlier of the wildcard game). That’s how the league is decided. To cut the number of games in half causes a situation where it’s hard to determine who the best teams really are. It gets really foggy.

The second half of the MLB season is usually the separation time. The best teams show themselves and the rest just fall. With half or less of the games, there will be no separation time to determine who the best teams really are. There’ll likely be a large middle ground of teams that would either make or miss the playoffs but we don’t have enough information to know whether they are a contender or a pretender. 

A team that’s either middling or not that great can have a great three week stretch and be a playoff team while a good team could falter for a couple of weeks and miss the playoffs. The amount of time to make up ground is so much less. And teams do get hot and cold in the MLB more than other leagues, which is another reason they play 162. It gives them the best opportunity to sift out good teams from bad teams that just had a good few weeks. 60-80 games wouldn’t afford that chance as easily.

I look at a team like the Pirates the last couple of years as a great example. In 2018, they went on a huge winning streak around the break and looked like contenders. They wound up faltering late. In 2019 they didn’t go on quite the same run at the break but were at least hanging in at the break before having a very bad second half that saw them only win 24 games. In a shorter season, a team like that would be a legitimate playoff contender that might sneak in even though they aren’t that great of a team. 

And the talk of expanding playoffs this year to 12-14 teams doesn’t help. They think it’d help legitimacy but it would do the opposite. You’d be sending even more mediocre to bad teams into the field and it’d make playoff runs seem more illegitimate as beating those teams wouldn’t be seen as “real” playoff wins under normal circumstances. And even in a shortened season, those teams could realistically make a run themselves based and then it becomes a problem as those teams wouldn’t have otherwise made the field. Just imagine one of those extra participants reaches or even wins the World Series. Or a team like the Yankees or Dodgers dispatches them in the fall classic (which might become the winter classic). In either situation, the legitimacy question rears it’s head in again. 

With a shorter season also comes some other things. Rosters would be expanded for a bit to accommodate the spring training cutoff then having to rev it up again. Schedule changes and balancing that becomes a concern too, especially if neutral site games have to be played and teams lose home games. There would also be no trade deadline so you wonder how teams would approach that. The trade deadline usually helps that separation time, but that won’t happen in this season. Even if you can make trades any time, more teams would be in it and trading for a player for 15-20 games might not even be worth it this year for anyone, even if there are some teams wanting to trade off rentals. Then there’s the possibility that trades can’t be made in-season at all, which would eliminate any of those possibilities. 

This could all be moot if the season is canceled, but I believe there will be baseball this season. It’ll just be different than any baseball we’ve ever seen. And will the team holding up that trophy in November or December be considered legitimate and remembered as a true champion or will they be recognized as a “*champion.” The question of legitimacy will be a story of the MLB in 2020 if there is a season. 

49ers face tough challenges remaining top team in NFC

The 49ers were NFC Champions last season, and as such have become the team to beat in the conference in 2020-21. 

The NFC was very top-heavy in 2019, so the 49ers topping that conference is a testament to how good they were. But I see the NFC being even tougher this year.

The reason for this is because so many NFC teams on the cusp last season improved immensely. The Buccaneers are getting Tom Brady which automatically makes them a real contender given how good the rest of that roster is. The Cardinals acquired a top WR in Hopkins and now have multiple top receivers in year two of Kingsbury and Murray to work magic with their air raid offense. The Eagles added some very good pieces on defense and look to be a team that can improve upon last year. The Bears upgraded at QB with Foles and he won’t have to be great with that defense, just good, something Trubisky wasn’t. Teams like the Cowboys and Rams are hit and miss but could be good if things go right for them. The Falcons ended last year on a hot stretch and could carry that into 2020, and with Ryan and Jones, they are always dangerous. 

Then there’s the playoff teams from last year. A step back from the Vikings and Seahawks is possible, more so the Vikings after losing Diggs, Joseph, Waynes and Rhodes. But Cousins, Cook and Thielen give that team a chance. The Seahawks typically figure things out no matter what. The Packers and Saints will bring back mostly the same teams as well, so they’ll be there as well. Maybe not 13-3 good, but still good. 

So I think the conference won’t be so top-heavy. I only see a select few teams being bad. The Lions, Redskins and Giants could very well be the only non-contenders in the conference, especially with a 7-team playoff field in 2020-21. It’ll probably be a pretty compact conference with the teams so close to one another.

And the 49ers will be right in the middle of it. They have one of the best rosters in the league, but have not, to this point, done anything to boost it. There offseason philosophy has been to keep their own, which is fine. But that isn’t a step forward. And most people, for whatever reason, are just shrugging off the fact that they traded their best defensive player like it doesn’t matter. This team, as currently constructed, isn’t better than the one we saw make a Super Bowl run.

They will get some players back from injury, like Taylor, Hurd, McKinnon, Jones and Blair, but none of these guys are core players. They don’t make up for losing Buckner, again the best defensive player on the best defense in the league. 

Adding two 1st round picks would certainly help as well, but rookies can be so hit and miss. They don’t all come in and perform like Bosa did last season. Sometimes they struggle, sometimes they show inconsistencies, sometimes they are busts. And with the pre-draft process being as compromised as ever, the draft will be an even greater crapshoot than usual. So I doubt the rookies make up for it either, at least not immediately. 

Often times, Super Bowl teams, especially the losers, just become obsessed with retaining and rewarding their own as they think that’s the formula for returning to the big game. Often times, it doesn’t work out that way. The reason? Because doing that isn’t a step forward. It’s running in place. It’s stagnation. And people don’t talk about it enough. 

The rest of the conference is making moves to catch and surpass the 49ers while the 49ers have stopped running and are instead just standing there letting it happen. In fact, they might have even run a bit backwards. And I’m worried that there’s a chance they get left behind with that strategy. It’s happened so many times, and that’s why I hate seeing it going this way, the strategy I’ve seen fail for so many teams. 

Now this is subject to change at a moment’s notice if the 49ers make that big move that changes things. But as of now, I am not sensing that’ll be the case. It looks as though the 49ers are more than content with retaining their own at the cost of their best defensive player so they have the cap space in order to do that. It feels like an incomplete plan, and it might be. The 49ers might have something brewing to make all that I’m saying moot, and I hope they do. Because right now, I just don’t see a better 49ers team while I see a good bit of much-improved NFC teams coming for the 49ers. 

What are the 49ers doing?

On the first day of the NFL’s legal negotiating window ahead of free agency, the 49ers made some moves. One was expected, one was sort of expected and the other was a huge surprise. 

First, they re-signed Arik Armstead to a 5-year deal (though it has a weird clause in it that can turn it into a 6-year deal). The deal is heavily backloaded to help the 49ers cap crunch this offseason. 

Then they traded DeForest Buckner to the Colts for a 1st. With almost no way to keep Buckner, Armstead and Ford at more than $50M/year average, the 49ers decided to trade the guy on the last year of his deal that wasn’t getting extended at the $21M/year the Colts wound up giving him. Plus, getting a top 15 pick is legit. 

Then they re-signed Jimmie Ward as well. The longtime 49er who has made it through three coaching changes will continue to be a 49er. He comes on a new 3-year deal. Structure of the deal is unknown but I wouldn’t be surprised if this one is backloaded too, but probably not to the degree of Armstead’s. 

So what exactly are the 49ers doing? That’s a question that has has been rolling around in my head since the Buckner trade. Reason being that you don’t trade a guy like him to save that much cap space without another big plan. 

But there are concerns after the Ward signing that they jettisoned their best defensive player only to create cap space to re-sign other defensive players (and perhaps extend Kittle). No moves that make the team better, and in fact, the team is definitely worse off without one of the best interior defensive linemen in the league. 

The one thing the 49ers do have now though is two first-rounders, including one in the top 15 (13th overall). And for a team without another pick until the 5th round after that, it’s a big deal. 

However, at least right now, it appears as though they are hoping Ward and Armstead can match career seasons, which will be tough. While also hoping those first round picks turn in production that overall matches Buckner from a win-perspective. That’s a tough thing to place on rookies. 

This is why I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. There has to be more here. Lynch and Shanahan were aggressive after the team went 6-10 and 4-12. You can’t tell me they won’t be aggressive after a Super Bowl run. 

Often times, the loser of the Super Bowl goes on a bad hangover the next year. A big reason is because they don’t often add huge pieces after that run. They work hard to retain their own in hopes of remaking that magic. And sometimes they make decisions to move on from good players in order to retain others. Sound familiar? I hope the 49ers don’t fall into this trap. 

I’ve never known Lynch and Shanahan to just sit on their hands and let opportunities pass them by. They know this team currently isn’t better than the one that went to the Super Bowl. It’s the same team minus Buckner. The two first rounders will help, but you have to temper expectations for rookies (they aren’t all as good as Nick Bosa). Getting Taylor and Hurd back will help, but neither guy puts them over the top like Buckner does. 

So to trade a player of the level of Buckner only to re-sign and extend your own players and make the team worst off overall is not something I think the 49ers would do, not in this regime anyway. They know it’s now Super Bowl or bust for them, and that’s why I expect the other shoe to drop in this really soon. Right now, it’s a puzzle that is undone with pieces scattered. But soon, I believe the puzzle will be built and all these moves will make coherent sense with each other. 

Potential 49ers cap casualties

The 49ers go into the offseason with the 28th most cap space in the NFL. This is a drastic change from where they had been the last few seasons where they had among the most. 

The 49ers have priorities this offseason to re-sign Armstead and even maybe Sanders and Ward, while also working something out with Kittle and Buckner as both will be free agents after the season. 

The $13M of cap space they have won’t be anywhere near enough to get it all done, even with how good they structure deals. 

So I do expect we will see some cuts, perhaps some surprising ones too. So let’s look at some potential cap casualties, whether in cuts or trades. Some of these will be obvious, some not so much. 

Marquise Goodwin:

Goodwin was one of this regime’s first signings and it did pan out well for a bit. But he’s had injury issues and has fallen out of favor in this WR group now since it’s gotten way better since back when Goodwin was added. He just doesn’t fit much now. 

Shanahan has already said they won’t just cut him so a trade is likely, and there are interested teams. They wouldn’t get a ton in a trade but the cap savings of almost $4M would be nice to have. The draft pick would be a bonus. 

A running back:

There is no reason for the 49ers to carry 5 RBs. They have Mostert, Coleman, Breida, Wilson and will get McKinnon back. Mostert has emerged as the top back and I think he’s the only one safe in this group.

Coleman was fine but nothing special. For $4M he’s probably still worth it. They could save $4M by cutting or trading him though. 

Breida has had ankle injuries and a fumbling problem. He has lost a lot of the faith of the coaching staff as Shanahan hardly played him late in the season, even when healthy. They can save about $2M by cutting or trading him. 

McKinnon was given that huge deal and hasn’t even played for the 49ers in two years since. I don’t think he’s needed anymore. A cut of him would save the 49ers about $4.5M. Though they may try to restructure his deal into a deal like Ward had last year. A one-year prove your healthy and can play sort of deal. That would save the 49ers some money too if they wanted to keep him. 

I think there’s a chance two of these guys are dealt or cut. Shanahan usually only played Coleman and either Mostert or Breida all year and was successful. I think they could get rid of Breida and McKinnon and be fine. Wilson would be a fine third back for this team and RBs are a dime a dozen for the Shanahan scheme as it makes any back good. No need to carry 4 backs again, even as Mostert continues to play special teams too. They could save upwards to $6M by ridding themselves of those two. Would be a big chunk of space. Though, there is also a chance they restructure McKinnon then cut Coleman too in order to get around $7-8M total in extra cap space instead of the about $4.5M they’d get by just cutting McKinnon. The maneuver would be very risky though given that McKinnon hasn’t seen game action in two years and Coleman is a much better bet for the price. 

Mike Person:

This one is possible but not likely. Person doesn’t make a lot of money and is a fine offensive lineman. They would be hard pressed to find his production on the market for less and drafting the position is tough, especially with no current day 2 draft picks. 

Jaquiski Tartt:

Tartt is a really good safety and is a big part of the defense so I doubt this happens, but it’s possible. But with Ward hitting free agency, I doubt they’d want to rework their whole safety group. Without Ward and Tartt, they’d have Harris and whoever they’d draft at safety starting. Wouldn’t be bad, but I don’t think cutting or trading Tartt is necessary. It would save about $6M in cap space though. 

Dee Ford:

This one sounds crazy at first but maybe not so much once you consider it a bit. Dee Ford is a great player but was hurt a ton last year and didn’t play even close to many snaps. He’s had injury issues his whole career and is hard to rely on, even though he’s incredible when healthy. Committing to him long-term might be tough, even if he makes that pass rush better. If cutting or trading him helps us keep Armstead and Buckner though, you have to make that move. 

I’d love to keep the big 4 together, but it might be unrealistic. The move would save a lot of cap space over multiple years and would give the 49ers cap flexibility to perhaps keep Armstead and Buckner and at least keep them and Bosa together. Most teams don’t even have three on the line that good. Having all four would be great, but again, it just might not be possible. 

Ford is the most oft-injured of the big four and is the most inconsistent and overall unreliable. Nothing against Ford, but if I had to pick one of them to get rid of, it’d be Ford and keep Bosa, Buckner and Armstead. With Blair, Thomas, Jones, Day and Taylor, I think it’d still be a lethal pass rush with the big three. Remember, they still played well last year even without Ford for 5 games and most of a 6th game as well. 

Jimmy Garoppolo:

I know......... I know. But with the rumors that are swirling, I have to at least discuss it. The rumor that Shanahan has concerns about Garoppolo needs to be considered. And the fact they built the Garoppolo deal to easily be gotten out of after two years if Shanahan felt it necessary is key too. 

This doesn’t have to just be connected to Brady or another free agent QB, or even a QB on the trade market. It could be Mullens or a draft QB too. I don’t know what Shanahan would want if not Garoppolo. 

What I do know is that getting rid of Garoppolo would save the 49ers upwards to $22M in cap space. That money could go a long way in helping out other areas, especially if they’d go with a cheaper option at QB that Shanahan likes more. 

I don’t think whatever they’d get with that money would be more valuable than Garoppolo, especially when having to make a quarterback change too. But if Shanahan likes another QB better, then trading Garoppolo, which would also net him a good return, would give them flexibility to get some things done in free agency and/or to work things out with some of their other players. 

Out of all these, I see Goodwin certainly going. And I could easily see two RBs gone too. I don’t see Person or Tartt as legitimate cap casualties. Ford is not likely, but it’s possible in this trying cap time for the 49ers. And getting rid of Garoppolo is not very much likely at all unless Shanahan is thinking about going a different direction there, which would surprise many. 

Things the NFL can learn from the XFL

Through 5 weeks of the XFL season, we have a pretty good idea of how the league is and what it is about. 

I personally like the league and am rooting for its success. The league is a major improvement over the last iteration of the XFL and is also a drastic upgrade over its predecessor of last year, the AAF, that didn’t even last one full season. The XFL has true staying power in my opinion. 

Some parts of this league are really cool and refreshing, but it doesn’t make it so you can’t recognize it as football. And I do think it’s implemented some things that the NFL should be paying attention to in order to learn from it and try to add it into their league to enhance the NFL experience.

The first thing is the designated ball spotter. One of the biggest gripe in the NFL is that teams want to go faster, but the referees sometimes take awhile to spot the ball and get it down. The XFL easily fixes this by having a ball spotter on the field to take care of that. This process is done within 5 to 10 seconds and then the play can go on pretty seamlessly. 

The way it goes in the NFL just takes way too long in between plays. Fans don’t like all that idle time. The XFL eliminates a lot of the in between play idle time with just one simple move like adding a designated ball spotter. It’s an easy thing that can be implemented in the NFL that would be such a good thing. 

The next thing is make replay reviews short and easy. The NFL takes way too long to conduct its reviews. Again, fans hate all of that idle time waiting for a decision on a play that shouldn’t take 3-5 minutes. The XFL rules state it should take a minute or less barring some technical issues. The XFL has replay officials in the stadiums instead of everything having to go to New York for review. Additionally, since every play is under review, which is possible with a replay official in every stadium focused on that one game and no others, by the time it goes under further review, it has already been reviewed closely so the final decision can come in easily within a minute. All of it really speeds up the process. 

The replay reviews in the XFL are clean, clear and efficient. The process is quick and easy. It’s really refreshing to watch such a quick replay process done with such thorough explanations as to why the call was confirmed, stood or overturned. The NFL can also easily do this, and it would be great for the league. 

These simple two rules that the XFL has is part of the reason the XFL typically can keep games to three or less hours. The NFL struggles as games can often times go three and a half to four hours. 

Implementing these two simple rules would do more than most think in making games shorter, which would be a welcomed sight for many NFL fans. And neither rule would damage the structure of the NFL. The XFL has some different rules that the NFL wouldn’t adopt, like a 1, 2 or 3-point conversion play rules, one foot in bounds is a catch or the 25-second play clock, but having a ball spotter and implementing quicker replay rules doesn’t make the NFL lose itself. The game will still be the same, just a lot quicker. There are no downsides to these things. 

But there is one more thing the XFL has that I wish the NFL, and quite frankly other professional sports leagues, had. And that’s transparency. I’m not saying the NFL has to have everyone mic’d up at all times and are subject to interviews at any time like the XFL. However, the NFL is often too secretive about a ton of things that don’t need to be.

For instance, the XFL had their first major officiating gaffe this past weekend. That stuff has happened countless amounts of times in the NFL, and in all sports. But the difference is the XFL was open and honest about it and owned the mistake instead of hiding and hoping it’d go away. Transparency is the strongest attribute the XFL has and the NFL, and other professional sports leagues, would be smart to learn from how the XFL does that. 

The XFL built its league on being the best possible experience for fans. Everything they do is for the fans. It’s a fan friendly experience and people are starting to love it. 

The XFL is never going to reach the success of the NFL, but I think it has a real chance to stick around because it is a breath of fresh air that was much needed. Even though the XFL will be the NFLs little brother, I think the NFL can still learn some things from it. And I honestly think both leagues can build off each other to make both leagues as good as they can be. 

Does Kyle Shanahan trust Jimmy Garoppolo?

During the season and into the playoffs and the Super Bowl and now into the offseason, the questions about whether Kyle Shanahan trusts Jimmy Garoppolo have become increasingly loud. 

Shanahan has stated he likes Jimmy Garoppolo. But what else is he going to say. I’ve never seen Shanahan ever throw any of his guys under the bus publicly. He’s not going to do that. So of course he’s going to say he likes him, just like he said he liked Hoyer and Beathard, Mullens too. Of course he’s going to say he likes his players. Why wouldn’t he? 

So we have to look at actions. Throughout the year, Kyle Shanahan kept the ball out of harm’s way a ton by using the running game. Of course, Shanahan’s scheme has always been designed with great running back play in mind and this season was no different, as they boasted the second best running attack in the NFL behind only the Ravens. Teams couldn’t stop it. 

And that was especially true in the playoffs. Garoppolo threw it a total of just 14 times in his last 6 quarters heading into the Super Bowl. Just six passes in the second half against the Vikings and eight total in the game against the Packers. Granted the run game was really strong in those games but you still would hope you can go balanced on your attack. Shanahan has always been a stickler for a balanced play call. But there were times this season where he just decided pounding the rock 80-90% of the time was good enough. 

In the playoffs especially, this became even more magnified. After Garoppolo threw an interception against the Vikings, Shanahan seemed to totally change the game plan to run it more. They weren’t up big and had no reason to just milk clock. They had to actually go out and win that game in the second half, not just hold it. And in that moment, Shanahan decided to take it out of Garoppolo’s hands and continually just told him to turn around and hand it off. It worked, but it didn’t show trust in the guy.

It happened again in the Packers game. They ran it early and often. Jimmy barely threw the entire game. And this is maybe a bigger indictment on Garoppolo because this seemed to be the gameplan. It’s the NFC Championship game and your plan is to hand it off all but eight times. Again, if worked. But it doesn’t exactly show trust in your guy. 

This changed in the Super Bowl though. Perhaps Shanahan had to prove something to people and try to let Garoppolo prove himself. And he was doing it for three quarters. He was 18-21 but then fell off in the 4th. 3–10 in the 4th, didn’t protect the football (which is the biggest known issue with Garoppolo) and missed a open Sanders on a championship throw. In the moments they needed him most in that game, he didn’t deliver. Shanahan gave him a chance to deliver after not being given that chance all playoffs. He didn’t deliver. 

Garoppolo’s stats were pretty good. He threw for almost 4000 yards, 27 TDs to 13 INTs and a 102 QBR. But he didn’t throw it as much as other QBs. He could have thrown for 5000 yards and 35 TDs with more of a passing game but might have thrown 18-20 INTs. 

Again, the interceptions and putting the ball in harm’s way is Jimmy Garoppolo’s biggest flaw. It’s not as bad as a guy like Jameis Winston or maybe even Joe Flacco a few years ago but it’s still a problem. And it’s probably the reason why they don’t throw the ball as much in this offense as Shanahan would like. He’d probably prefer to throw the ball as much in this offense as he could with Matt Ryan in Atlanta. But Garoppolo doesn’t make it possible, at least not right now. 

Garoppolo has tremendous arm talent. And he’s only been a starter one full season and still has less than two seasons worth of starts. So it might not be a full trust issue as much as it is a patience thing. Shanahan might have tailored this offense a bit for him this past season to not put too much on him while also still applying pressure to him. He was also coming off an ACL tear so that might have lead to putting some limitations on Garoppolo as well. There’s a good chance Garoppolo still gets better in this offense. In fact, I’d guarantee he can if given the chance.

So while I do believe it’s true that Shanahan doesn’t have full trust in Garoppolo, I wouldn’t call it distrust either. I’d say that Shanahan was just trying to ease a guy into his first full year of starting coming off an ACL tear. And given that, Garoppolo played well. I think it’s being overblown about how much they don’t trust him. It’s no surprise Shanahan won’t be giving full trust to him yet in this situation. He’s not reached that level after less than 30 starts in the NFL. It’s just unreasonable. 

I think the 49ers do believe in Garoppolo as their franchise quarterback and will do all they can to put him in situations to be successful. If he is on the team next season, I think a lot of the limitations on him from last season will be lifted and he’ll have an even greater chance to lead the offense. 

Making sense of Tom Brady/49ers rumor

After the 49ers crushing Super Bowl defeat to the hands of the Chiefs, the focus immediately turned to trying to reach the Super Bowl again, but of course attain a better result. 

But after a horrid 4th quarter performance by Jimmy Garoppolo, including a miss on a deep ball to Sanders that would have put the 49ers on their way to their sixth Super Bowl, the questions about Garoppolo surfaced again, just like they always have. These questions were especially prevalent in the playoffs where Garoppolo threw a total of 14 passes in his last 6 quarters of the playoffs before the Super Bowl. Six passes after halftime against Minnesota and only eight total passes against Green Bay. His terrible 4th quarter in the game’s biggest stage escalated those questions. 

Then something that seemed crazy was thrown out there. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk posited the idea of the 49ers signing Tom Brady and dealing Jimmy Garoppolo away. Back then, it was only seen as idle speculation amidst a peak time for there to be concerns about Garoppolo. But it got beyond that.

A few weeks passed with it dying down a bit but not completely before, at the combine, Deion Sanders brought the idea back up. Since then, it’s gone wild again, even greater than before. 

With two weeks to go until NFL free agency, Tom Brady is expected to hit free agency for the first time ever. The 42-year old has been to 9 Super Bowls and has won 6. But he had arguably the worst season of his outstanding career in 2019-20. And the media around his decision has and will rival Lebron James’ decision to take his talents to South Beach. 

But the 49ers entrance into this frenzy is a whole other level than other expected suitors like the Chargers, Colts, Raiders and maybe even the Dolphins or Bucs. 

You see, Tom Brady is from San Mateo, California and grew up a 49ers fan, and was definitely rooting for them when Mike Shanahan was in San Francisco where his son, now 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan, was a ball boy. By the way, Brady is two years older than Kyle Shanahan. 

So the questions about Garoppolo, the free agency of the greatest QB of all-time and Brady’s connection to the 49ers his whole life created a perfect storm for speculation about this possibility. It all seemed like just talk up until now. That was until some insiders came out of the combine with a sense that this is actually something being discussed. Patriots insider Tom Curran was one of the main ones but his report has been backed up by others. Now, it’s not a hard “the 49ers want him” thing. It’s just a “don’t count out the 49ers” thing. 

But how would an addition of Tom Brady even makes sense if it can at all? Well, it’s a very complicated, layered issue.

Firstly, Jimmy Garoppolo is no slacker. He’s a good QB. I wouldn’t put him anywhere near elite level, but he’s firmly in the top half of QBs. And he performed better than Brady last season. I know Brady had little help with how little weapons they had besides Edelman. 

Jimmy Garoppolo is also 28 and in his prime while Brady is 42 and his best is well behind him. I don’t think he has another career renaissance like he’s had three or four times when it seemed over for him. 

And yes, Brady could be better in Shanahan’s system with those improved weapons. But I don’t know how smooth a transition it would be. And I don’t know if he fares better in this offense than Jimmy Garoppolo.

Jimmy Garoppolo’s deal was structured so the 49ers can easily get out of it the next few years if they wish. And that was by design just in case they changed their mind on him. I think there is some merit to Shanahan not having full trust in Garoppolo, but I think it’s overblown a lot too. 

So they “can” move on from Garoppolo easily. It doesn’t mean they will. And I have an even harder time believing they’d do it for a guy who will be 43 next season. Kirk Cousins is a free agent after next season. If the 49ers would move on from Garoppolo for anyone, it would be him. Shanahan is a huge fan of Kirk Cousins. 

And I have a hard time believing Brady would take a literal “hometown discount” to play for the 49ers. He’s been taking discounts his whole career. I think one of his goals in free agency is to prove his worth and finally be one of the highest paid at his position. If he wanted to take more pay cuts, he’d stay in New England. So his cap hit would likely be higher than Garoppolo next year. And to cut or trade Garoppolo, the 49ers would eat $4M. It’s not a lot, but to a team with as low of cap space as they have, it means more. And to take that on and pay about $5M at the position would be bad for them. 

Another question is whether Brady gives them a better chance to win a Super Bowl the next two years than Garoppolo. I honestly think the answer is no. I know he’s won six but as I said, his best days are past and I don’t see another renaissance coming for him. He didn’t have the necessary pieces in New England but if you watched him play, he wasn’t great himself either. I’ve never seen Brady miss guys as much as he did last year. He was towards the bottom in completion percentage. His arm isn’t the same it was. It happens. It happened to Peyton Manning rather quickly too. 

I don’t think inserting him in Shanahan’s scheme will magically fix him. It will help for sure as it helps basically every QB, but I don’t think it’d make Brady what he was at age 30 or even what he was at age 40 just a couple years ago when he threw for 500 yards in a Super Bowl loss. Not even Brady is immortal. 

And what would the 49ers do after Brady? They’d have to send Garoppolo elsewhere to facilitate Brady. And Brady seems to be seeking a 2-year commitment, which would mean the 49ers would sacrifice a chance at Kirk Cousins again. Not that it would be smart to go from Garoppolo to Brady to Cousins over 3 years anyways. That’d be too much QB change even if all three are good. They’d have to draft a QB and hope they hit, which isn’t easy, especially when you expect to pick low in round 1 and don’t have much foot trade up possibilities. 

Now, trading Jimmy Garoppolo could help get draft capital, but the whole process of moving on from a starting QB to an aging QB that’s essentially a question mark 2-year rental at his age then drafting a QB and taking a chance on that process doesn’t make a ton of sense. It seems almost a roundabout way to get to the same spot they are in now, at best, with bad downside to just mess it all up. Jimmy Garoppolo isn’t a great or elite QB but he’s a QB they can win with. They almost did win a Super Bowl with him too. If they had, this conversation would not be a thing. 

So while this is an interesting topic that seems to get more and more interesting everyday that’s a sort of fun follow if you enjoy juicy speculation and half-rumors, the whole “signing Brady then trading in Jimmy Garoppolo” thing makes little sense for the 49ers. It makes all the sense for Brady, but the 49ers wouldn’t benefit much, if any, from it. From a cap standpoint, it makes zero sense. From a performance standpoint, it makes zero sense. From a process standpoint, it makes zero sense. It just doesn’t make much of any sense for the 49ers at all. But the pain of losing the Super Bowl the way they did and the passion to get back there and not make the same mistake could change viewpoints a bit. Emotions can make people do funny things and NFL free agency always does that. 

For now, I can’t say they won’t go for Brady and trade Garoppolo, but it seems like a wild scenario that is almost meant for TV. But as the speculation turns into a greater amount of more or less concrete rumors, this will be worth following. We will know for sure in two weeks when free agency begins and Brady signs somewhere. Until then, the rumors on this will continue to swirl so be prepared for that. It’s not going away.