As the 49ers continue to wait on a Jimmy Garoppolo trade developing, they will not fine him for missing minicamp. The team will excuse the veteran quarterback from its minicamp, which is set for this week, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.
Garoppolo not being ready to participate fully makes this news a formality, but it continues to reveal the 49ers’ plans regarding their longtime starter. John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan have spoken openly about wanting to trade Garoppolo. While both have offered scenarios in which the ninth-year veteran is not dealt, the 49ers’ goal remains for Garoppolo to be sent elsewhere in order to begin the Trey Lance era. Garoppolo, 30, has done his shoulder rehab away from the team’s facility.
Lance has had the first-team reps to himself this offseason and stands to keep growing in Shanahan’s system during minicamp. The former one-and-done Division I-FCS starter struggled as a rookie but recently detailed his issues overcoming a finger injury — one that did not fully heal until the season ended.
The prospect of Garoppolo resurfacing as a competitor in training camp would complicate San Francisco’s blueprint — both financially, considering the $26.9MM cap figure attached to Garoppolo, and in terms of Lance’s future — but that scenario remains in play the longer the incumbent starter stays on the roster. The team’s most recent step continues to show that will not be the goal.
Garoppolo’s surgery on his throwing shoulder did not take place until March, delaying his return to action and halting meaningful 49ers trade talks. As a result, Baker Mayfield has been more frequently connected to other teams than Garoppolo. But the four-plus-year 49er starter’s presence in the background here still affects Mayfield’s status. Once both are ready to participate fully, trade talks involving the passers stand to intensify and increase in complexity.
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