After plenty of speculation since the end of the 2022 NFC Championship Game regarding the future of Jimmy Garoppolo, the 49ers kept the veteran quarterback.
The 30-year-old took a pay cut of nearly $18 million on Monday to remain with San Francisco, creating strong opinions if the 49ers made the right decision with the franchise transitioning to Trey Lance as the starting quarterback this 2022 NFL season.
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On Wednesday, NFL analyst and former New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms appeared on 95.7 The Game’s “The Morning Roast,” stating why the 49ers didn’t manage the situation well as it now creates an awkward team environment, in his opinion.
“[49ers] didn’t handle it well,” Simms said. “I just can’t imagine that if I was a young starting quarterback and the job is yours and all this other stuff, but we got this guy over here throwing that’s done all this good stuff in the NFL, won a lot of games for us, he’s just going to work out. It’s just strange, and it had to be uncomfortable times.”
Simms isn’t alone thinking about the uneasy quarterback situation the 49ers have after keeping Garoppolo. NBC Sports’ Peter King shared his concern during Tuesday's episode of "The Peter King Podcast" on what effect the issue will have on Lance.
“The one X-factor in this is what does this do to Trey Lance’s psyche? He’s a very confident kid, he’s a very humble kid, but he’s confident,” King said. “But now, they basically have brought back a quarterback and Trey Lance, how does he avoid thinking, ‘This team really doesn’t believe in me, this team is putting training wheels on me because they know now they have a good insurance policy, so maybe they won’t be as patient with me if I have a few struggles.’
San Francisco 49ers
“… From the 49ers' standpoint, after the awkwardness of this goes away, the one thing I would worry about is what you were saying to Trey Lance by bringing Jimmy Garoppolo back. It’s impossible for me to believe that he can’t think, ‘This team really has some doubts about me.’”
With Garoppolo still around, it gives the 49ers a security blanket should Lance struggle or get injured. As a result, there's also a cloud of doubt about whether the team is all in on their young quarterback.
RELATED: How Trey Lance responded to Jimmy Garoppolo’s 49ers pay cut
Also, with Garoppolo staying, there's a chance that the quarterback controversy could split the locker room on who should be under center. Plenty of veterans on the team could side with Garoppolo, who has taken San Francisco to Super Bowl LVII and NFC Championship Game last season, over Lance.
The 49ers are in win-now mode, so if Lance struggles early, the quarterback controversy will start brewing again.