The 49ers might wind up picking in the first round of this year’s draft after all. NBC Sports’ Peter King believes a relatively stagnant quarterback market could push Jimmy Garoppolo’s value into stratosphere that nets San Francisco a first-round selection in exchange for the veteran signal caller.
King told Damon and Ratto on 95.7 the Game in San Francisco that Garoppolo would immediately become a hot commodity if Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson aren’t traded in the offseason.
“If, for the sake of argument, Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson stay put, that is great news for the 49ers,” King said. “Because it would mean, in my opinion, the floor of a trade would be then a first-round pick.”
As an added wrinkle, it may not even be a late first-round choice. King floated two three teams picking in the top-20 who could all be players for Garoppolo.
“Maybe the sweet spot, as you called it, would be to Pittsburgh at number 20, or maybe even to Washington,” King said. “I can tell you I had a good talk last week with (Washington head coach) Ron Rivera at the Super Bowl and they are going to do something at quarterback. They don’t know yet what it is, but they’re going to do something at quarterback … Carolina is going to do something at quarterback.”
Washington is going to the draft with the No. 11 overall pick. Carolina is slated to pick No. 6.
A team like Pittsburgh makes sense for Garoppolo and the No. 20 pick would be well worth the investment if the Steelers think Garoppolo is good enough to get them over the hump in the AFC. QB Ben Roethlisberger struggled for most of last year and they still made the postseason.
Washington parting with the 11th pick would be a head-scratching move considering where their roster stands. Last season they didn’t look to be a QB of Garoppolo’s caliber away from contending, but their defense also underachieved a bit. A better defense may elevate them into the realm of team Garoppolo can guide to a deep playoff run. The Commanders haven’t been a terrific organization over the last several years though and overpaying with the No. 11 pick fits their overall ethos.
Carolina may very well be in the mix for Garoppolo, but it’s hard to imagine the No. 6 pick would be on the table. Last year they traded three mid-to-late-round picks for Sam Darnold. That trade didn’t work out, so they’re still on the hunt for a quarterback. If they’re targeting Garoppolo it would probably be with a package in the vein of the one they gave up for Darnold with multiple mid-round picks heading to San Francisco.
Whether a first-round pick is on the table or not will come down to how robust the market is for Garoppolo. Even if there’s no Round 1 selection available, it’s clear the 49ers aren’t going to have to give away their QB for cheap. He’s going to fetch them a nice trade package that could set them up to recoup some of the capital they lost in dealing for Trey Lance.
