The 49ers spent their 2021, 2022 and 2023 first-round draft picks on rookie quarterback Trey Lance, but this year they’re spending $26.4 million on starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. And they may spend $27 million on Garoppolo next year.
That’s the word from head coach Kyle Shanahan, who said Garoppolo has a chance to return next year and play out the final year of his contract.
“There’s a chance for anything, but I think we’ve made it pretty clear that Trey is our guy of the future, whenever that will happen,” Shanahan said. “But it’s also nothing against Jimmy that we took him, but we do think Trey is our guy of the future. Like I’ve said, I think it’ll be really hard, if Jimmy is on it, for him to beat him out right away. So it’s kind of going like that right now, and we’re not thinking much past that.”
Garoppolo’s salary next year is not guaranteed, so the 49ers can get rid of him in the offseason if they want. It has been widely expected that they will, and that Lance will be the 49ers’ starter in 2022. But Shanahan is not ready to say that just yet.