We're less than a month away from the NFL Draft and one of the biggest quarterback dominos has yet to fall.
After entering the offseason under the presumption that the San Francisco 49ers would move on from Jimmy Garoppolo to transition the team to Trey Lance, we've all just been waiting for the announcement that Garoppolo has officially been traded or released.
But is it possible that the 49ers enter the regular season with both signal callers still on the roster?
#49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, here at the NFC coaches breakfast, says he sees a scenario where Jimmy Garoppolo is on the roster in 2022 and acknowledges the surgery delayed trade talks. As for if both Trey Lance and Jimmy G are on the roster, Shanahan declines to name a starter.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 29, 2022
While it's possible San Francisco will begin the season in a sort of quarterback purgatory, it certainly seems unlikely that they would have traded two first-round picks and a third-round pick to sit Lance for two seasons.
Shanahan even confirmed as much later on in the breakfast.
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan asked if the natural progression is for Trey Lance to start this year: “That’s why we looked into trading Jimmy (Garoppolo).” Shanahan said they haven’t made a call on what it’ll look like if both are on the roster.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 29, 2022
I'd bet that Shanahan is just trying to keep Garoppolo's value as high as possible even though we can all read the writing on the wall: Trey Lance will be the starting quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers in 2022 and beyond.
It would be organizational malpractice to continue to sit Lance and I don't believe Shanahan and the 49ers are into malpractice.
Regardless of who ends up as QB1, WynnBET Sportsbook has the 49ers at +160 to win the NFC West, trailing the Super Bowl champion L.A. Rams at +135.
We'll keep you updated on all the latest transactions and odds movement here at BetSided. As you head to WynnBET to place your futures bets, keep in mind that it's all but certain Lance will be the starting quarterback for the 49ers.