Here’s how the Jimmy Garoppolo trade impacts the rest of the NFL
By Josh Hill
San Francisco traded for Jimmy Garoppolo on Monday night, and in doing so shifted narratives across two sports.
The NFL trade deadline is almost always quiet. Now and again there will be a deal where a Percy Harvin is traded, but usually big names aren’t moved. Almost never is there a seismic trade where two different levels of the profession are impacted.
When the San Francisco 49ers traded a second-round pick in this year’s draft to the New England Patriots, landing Jimmy Garoppolo in the process, that rarely seen seismic wave began to ripple out. Now the fun part is dissecting how it affects various parties involved.
Kyle Shanahan Got His Man
This was a long time coming, it just so happens that the quarterback Kyle Shanahan snagged wasn’t the one we were expecting. Kirk Cousins was earmarked by just about everyone to be the quarterback San Francisco went out and acquired this offseason, but now it’s the Jimmy Garoppolo show.
Shanahan has officially tied his coaching legacy in San Francisco to Garoppolo, plain and simple. By not only picking him over Cousins but also trading a second-round pick to land him, Shanahan is telling the rest of the NFL that this is his guy and it’s ride or die time. The good news is, this partnership has as much time to blossom as Niners fans could hope. By not waiting until March to make the move to acquire Garoppolo, the Niners have created four extra months for their new franchise quarterback to learn the system. That’s not to say a full offseason wouldn’t have been enough, but affording a few extra months can’t hurt. It’s clear that this was the move San Francisco was going to make at the start of the league year in four months, getting a head start can only lead to good things and a smoother transition.