How can the 49ers get a first-round pick for Jimmy Garoppolo?

All signs have pointed to the 49ers trading Jimmy Garoppolo this offseason. If we are to believe Adam Schefter, those signs may be incorrect.

During an interview on “The Ari Meirov NFL Show” podcast, Schefter cast some doubt on the certainty of a Garoppolo trade occurring.

“I’m just telling you that Trey Lance was probably further behind than people realized,” stated Schefter. “Trey Lance is greener than people realized. Trey Lance is going to need more work than people realized. And they have a roster that can win now.”

The crux of the issue according to Schefter is the belief that Trey Lance is not yet ready to play, and another year of development would be better for the team.

“Now, you’re San Francisco. Now you can say, ‘Jimmy Garoppolo is unquestionably one of the most popular and respected players in our locker room. Player’s love playing with him. We have him under contract this year at a very friendly $25 million cap number,” said Schefter. And if we play with him this year, and we lose him after this year, we’re going to get a third-round comp pick back in return.’

“So, are you better, then, playing the season with Jimmy while getting Trey the training that he still needs? Or are you better trading him for—let’s just call it a two, four, and a six? What’s the better alternative?”

Schefter echoed the sentiments of former 49ers greats Joe Montana and Steve Young regarding the Lance’s readiness to take over the starting job.

“Let me say this: He’s developing the right way,” Schefter said. “They are happy with him. But I go back to my initial statement, that he did not play college football at all two years ago. He’s coming from a small school, to begin with. And there is a steep learning curve for a quarterback like that who’s blessed with a lot of talent, who they still are very high on.

“It’s not a reflection of whether they think he’s going to make it. … I’m just giving you the other side, that I don’t think it’s a lock he is going to be traded. He very well might, but it’s not a lock.”

All this discussion around if the 49ers will move on from Garoppolo and the readiness of Lance is great for San Francisco.

You may recall how the team did nothing to quell the talk of Mac Jones being their target with the third pick in the draft. We are seeing it play out once again.

The 49ers believe they are in a position to do well in a trade of Garoppolo. Much of that hinges on the status of Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson.

If Rodgers chooses to retire and Wilson stays with Seattle, simple supply and demand shows San Francisco will have the best veteran quarterback on the market.

Last offseason, Mike Giardi of NFL Network reported the 49ers asking price for Garoppolo was a first-round pick. With Rodgers and Wilson off the market, this could become a reality.

There are several strong teams currently in the market for a new quarterback. Among those would be Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Denver, and Washington.

One of these teams may be willing to give up a first in 2023 along with a mid-round pick in 2022. The thought behind that would be Garoppolo’s deep postseason runs in 2019 and 2021. By duplicating that with his new team the first-round pick would end up being late in the round, similar to an early second.

A timetable on this appears to be clear. San Francisco has several its own free agents to deal with. With the new league year set to commence on March 16, the 49ers need to get something in place for Garoppolo ahead of that time to prepare for those moves.