Washington Commanders could make drastic mistake at QB

The Washington Commanders need a quarterback heading into the 2022 season and could make a huge mistake this league year.

The Washington Commanders are expected to be in the market for a quarterback this offseason. They got by with a lack of a true answer at the position in 2020 behind their impressive defense, but 2021 did not pan out. But which direction could they head in regards to finding a solution?

One executive spoke to The Athletic’s Ben Standig (paywall) saying that, while they would not advocate for it, they believe that the Commanders could justify trading their 11th-overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo if they are not completely sold on the prospects in this year’s class.

One executive believes Commanders could justify trading 11th pick to 49ers for Jimmy Garoppolo

Trading for Garoppolo is understandable for the Commanders, but flipping their early first-round pick for him could come back to bite them in the end.

The 49ers telegraphed at the start of the 2021 league year that they were intent on finding Garoppolo’s replacement by trading a huge package of draft picks to the Miami Dolphins for the third-overall pick. San Francisco then used that pick to select North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance.

Garoppolo did not send shockwaves throughout the NFL with his play in 2021, but he played well enough to bring the 49ers to the NFC Championship Game as a Wild Card team.  He did all of that while dealing with shoulder and thumb injuries.

The quarterback threw for 3,810 yards, 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while completing 68.3 of his passes in 15 regular-season games. In San Francisco’s three playoff games, Garoppolo completed 58.1-percent of his passes for 535 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.

With the season over, Garoppolo said he expects to be traded this offseason and wants to be moved to a winning situation. Garoppolo has one year remaining on his current contract, where he is set to account for nearly $27 million against the cap.

Washington still has time to determine whether one of the quarterback prospects in this year’s draft class are worthy of the 11th-overall pick. But if they do not, they could choose to look at veterans on the trading block. But moving their first-round selection to the 49ers for Garoppolo may be a hard sell for the fanbase.