This offseason, the 49ers decided it was time to transition away from Jimmy Garoppolo and name Trey Lance the starting quarterback.
Lance taking over under center was only a matter of time, considering San Francisco paid a hefty price to jump from No. 12 overall to No. 3 in the 2021 NFL Draft to select the North Dakota State star. The 49ers will not pick in the first round until 2024 because of the trade with the Miami Dolphins.
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Although Garoppolo took the 49ers to Super Bowl LIV and the 2022 NFC Championship Game, his time as the franchise’s quarterback was ticking. As a result, the transition would be challenging and Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez believes San Francisco has mistreated the 30-year-old.
“I don’t like the way they treated him, not at all,” Gonzalez said on the Amazon Prime Video sideline set on Thursday (h/t Cam Inman of the Mercury News). “He’s on the field; he’s going to win 70 percent of the time over his career. A guy of his caliber, ‘Let me go, let me get out there to another team.’
“I don’t know if he’s OK with that. … If I was Jimmy, ‘I bet you’re costing me money. I could have been out there on another team helping them get better and my career. Now it’s so late,' it’s going to be detrimental; I don’t think detrimental but tougher.”
Throughout the process, Garoppolo has focused on rehabbing his shoulder injury and 49ers general manager John Lynch said on Tuesday that the veteran quarterback is doing “great” despite the uncertain future.
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San Francisco has held onto Garoppolo, believing a team would be in the mix to trade for him if an injury occurred in training camp or the NFL preseason games.
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However, with the Aug. 30 deadline looming when the 49ers have to trim their roster from 80 to 53 players, the team will be forced to decide on a player that doesn’t have a playbook, hasn't attend team meetings or traveled with the team for preseason games.