In a shocking turn of events, Jimmy Garoppolo and the 49ers agreed on a restructured, one-year contract to keep the veteran quarterback in the Bay. But the team made it clear that it wouldn't change its original plans.
A year after trading up to select him third overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, San Francisco felt it was time to give the reins to second-year quarterback Trey Lance. Everyone at the Niners insisted that Garoppolo staying wouldn't affect that.
However, NFL insider Peter King wouldn't be so sure. After claiming that Garoppolo will replace Lance by Week 7 in his latest 'Football in America' weekly column, King doubled down on his take by claiming the 49ers are not completely sold on Lance.
Rumor: 49ers don't have absolute confidence in Trey Lance as starter
"The Bengals didn’t do that,” King said on 95.7 The Game’s “Damon & Ratto”, via Alex Espinoza of Audacy.com. “The reason they didn’t do that is because they have total and full confidence in Joe Burrow. If the 49ers had absolute confidence in Trey Lance, they wouldn’t have done this. I think it’s easy to see. I’m not even knocking the 49ers for doing this. I’m simply saying that doing this comes at a price. That price is the mental approach and the stability and the development of Trey Lance. … The only conclusion I can draw from that is that Kyle Shanahan is having some second thoughts about whether Trey Lance is ready to go and gonna be able to make it through the season.
“I don’t care what anybody says,” King said. “Trey Lance, if he has a bad game, if he has, God forbid, two bad games, is gonna leave the stadium after his second bad game and say, ‘Is that it for me? Are they giving the job to Garoppolo?’ That is the danger in all this. It’s also the opportunism. The 49ers, I totally understand why they did this. But it comes with a price.”
The 49ers have made it crystal clear that Lance is their guy. However, the huge twist in the Garoppolo saga could certainly put extra pressure on the young quarterback, regardless of how confident the Niners are about Lance.
