NFL RUMORS: Garoppolo Staying Put? That's What it Sounds Like

(NOTE: Parts of this report appeared in this morning’s daily news and notes column.)

Obviously, here in New England there has been a lot of discussion about the future of 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo, who many would like to see potentially make a return back to New England.

So I took some time and listened to a recent episode of “Candlestick Chronicles”, a podcast with local 49ers reporters Chris Biderman and Kyle Madson, to get a feel for what the take is out in San Francisco surrounding the future of their quarterback.

One notable bit seems to be that while the rest of the country is pondering San Francisco trading their starting QB, it appears to be business as usual there.

The fact is, the consensus seems to be that Garoppolo’s not going anywhere, especially given all the other needs San Francisco has to fill. The only question might be how Kyle Shanahan may alter how Garoppolo is used next season, which could center on the future of free-agent fullback, Kyle Juszczyk. According to Biderman, depending on what happens there, it could affect how the offense runs with Garoppolo in 2021 as they try to make him more efficient throwing the football.

“It could be something where Kyle Shanahan decides, ‘OK, all right, we’re going to lose our fullback but now we’re going to open up the playbook in a different way and open up the playbook and start creating more options for Jimmy Garoppolo and not rely on the running game as much, and not rely on playaction out of big sets and all that stuff,” said Biderman. “I think that’s on the table. I haven’t heard that that’s happening, but I think it’s on the table.”

Biderman went on to point out one key thing in the remainder of his analysis, saying that he believes that the notion of Garoppolo leaving is happening everywhere outside the Bay Area, and not from anyone who covers the team on a regular basis.

“If you do bring back Jimmy Garoppolo, which I think you and I think is the most likely scenario – and just as an aside, it seems like everybody who’s disconnected from the 49ers believes the 49ers are getting rid of Garoppolo, and everybody who covers the team or talks to anybody with the team, they all sort of believe that Jimmy Garoppolo is coming back, which is an interesting dichotomy that I hope people are paying attention to – if Garoppolo comes back, it might be that you maximize him by getting the ball out of his hands quickly with multiple receiver sets instead of some of these longer developing plays with play-action and things like that.”

Needless to say, that was an interesting bit of information that gives you some perspective on how things are being viewed out there. That sort of gets back to a previous report that essentially said the only way Garoppolo would go anywhere would require San Francisco to receive a substantial upgrade at the position. Without that, it doesn’t appear that they plan on making any changes.

About Ian Logue

Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.

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Tags: Jimmy Garoppolo New England Patriots NFL Rumors Patriots Rumors San Francisco 49ers