Kyle Shanahan Confirmed The 49ers Have ‘Moved On To Trey Lance’ And Will Trade Jimmy Garoppolo

The San Francisco 49ers will indeed make a quarterback change this season despite a run to the NFC title game, where they came up three points short of the eventual Super Bowl champion Rams.

Jimmy Garoppolo’s tenure in San Francisco has been filled with team success, including a trip to the Super Bowl, but his performance has always begged the question of how much better they could be with improved (and maybe more importantly, more consistent) quarterback play. When the team drafted Trey Lance with the third overall pick in the 2021 Draft, the clock was ticking on Jimmy G’s time in the Bay, but despite some wondering if the change would happen during the season, the Niners rode out the year with Garoppolo under center, through ups and downs.

That won’t be the case this year, as the team is moving forward with Lance as the starter from the outset, with coach Kyle Shanahan confirming the expected on Tuesday with a firm statement on San Francisco’s QB situation after he met with Garoppolo and GM John Lynch earlier in the day.

There’s still the obvious question of who will want to trade for Garoppolo, as he rehabs from shoulder surgery but is expected to be back to full strength fairly soon. Most of the teams in the market for a new QB have already addressed that need, from the Panthers trading for Baker Mayfield to the Colts trading for Matt Ryan. The one team that could end up in the market for Garoppolo on his expiring deal is Cleveland, as they await word on Deshaun Watson’s suspension by the league amid 30 civil suits filed against him for sexual misconduct against a number of masseuses in the Houston area.

As for Lance, he gets to go into camp with the confidence to let it rip and know he’s the starter from Day 1, with a strong team around him, which includes Deebo Samuel who is in camp despite his desire for a new contract.