PALM BEACH, Fla. -- John Lynch is adamant that Jimmy Garoppolo’s presence on the 49ers' roster did not hamper the club’s free agency plans.
It is no secret that the 49ers were in talks to trade Garoppolo during the offseason. While a formal offer was never officially on the table, the quarterback’s shoulder surgery, albeit successful, forced interested clubs to look at other options.
The $25 million due to Garoppolo for the 2022 season would seem to have a direct effect on what Lynch and his staff might be able to do during free agency. But the 49ers' general manager is adamant that is not the case.
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“We had to do some conversions for free agency just to free up some cap room,” Lynch said on Monday. “But I think for people who think that our free agency plans were derailed by that, this was our plan all along.
“We’ve kind of had an all-gas mentality since we’ve been here so there needed to be a come to balance for us. In free agency, we knew we were going to have one big bite and that was our corner.”
Lynch added that the club is thrilled with the signing of Charvarius Ward, who will bring a veteran presence to the secondary. With where the roster stands, there weren’t a lot of other splashy signings the club could make.
Instead, Lynch and his staff fortified the roster with depth at several positions with players that can also contribute on special teams.
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“I’m really proud of our staff,” Lynch said. “We really searched long and hard where we could improve as a team and we made a bunch of targeted signings on good football players who fit us. I think we will bolster some of our weaknesses as we saw it.”
RELATED: Jimmy G's shoulder surgery was a surprise to 49ers, Lynch
While there might have been thought outside team headquarters that the club would be able to re-sign guard Laken Tomlinson if Garoppolo was on someone else’s payroll, Lynch denies that notion.
The plan is to move forward with Aaron Banks, who had a slow start to his rookie season due to missing much of the offseason due to a shoulder injury
“Our plan was our plan,” Lynch said. “We were able to do everything we intended to do in free agency. We knew we had wanted to fill that corner role and another number of other deals that we could piece together. That was the plan whether we had Jimmy or not.”
49ers' free-agency signings:
- CB Charvarius Ward
- LB Oren Burks
- S George Odum
- DL Hassan Ridgeway
- WR/RS Ray-Ray McCloud
- CB Darqueze Dennard
- DL Kerry Hyder