49ers’ Shanahan won’t guarantee Garoppolo’s ’21 return
San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan expects to have Jimmy Garoppolo at quarterback next season, but he stopped short of guaranteeing anything when asked about the player’s future Monday.
Garoppolo, who was limited to six games this season because of injury, is due to count $53 million against the salary cap over the next two seasons. Alternatively, San Francisco could let him go and absorb only $4.2 million in dead cap money.
“You can’t say anything with certainty,” Shanahan said. “You don’t sit here and make promises on anything. When you build a football team, it’s your job to put the best team together year in and year out.
“Now, you look into every avenue and you see if there’s something out there that can get you a ton better. That’s the same answer for every position, but look at Jimmy, look what he’s done, look where he’s at financially. We better have a very good answer if you’re going to find something better than that because Jimmy has shown in one year that he’s the guy who can take us to the Super Bowl and I also think that Jimmy is going to get a lot better the more he plays.”
Garoppolo, 29, has thrown for 8,042 yards and 51 touchdowns with 26 interceptions in 48 games (32 starts) for the New England Patriots and the 49ers. He helped to lead San Francisco to Super Bowl LIV, where he completed 20 of 31 passes for 219 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Garoppolo signed a five-year, $137.5 million contract with the 49ers before the start of the 2018 season. He has two years remaining on the deal with a base salary set for $24.1 million in 2021 and $24.2 million in 2022.
–Field Level Media
