Jeff Wilson Jr. may have no idea what the San Francisco 49ers’ front-office is thinking about Jimmy Garoppolo, but the running back made an awfully good argument against swapping his quarterback for Tom Brady.
It’s a wild scenario to consider: the Patriots could trade for Jimmy Garoppolo and Brady would then sign with the 49ers in free agency. Why? Kyle Shanahan is rumored to have decreasing confidence in Garoppolo.
Wilson Jr. was asked about the Brady speculation in a conversation with Sports Illustrated’s Jose Luis Sanchez III.
“It’s ludicrous.” Wilson said. “He just took us all the way to the Super Bowl, great season, 14 wins. I mean there’s not a lot of quarterbacks that’s even in this league that just had a season like that. And then you go from that season taking a team all the way to the Super Bowl, to talks of being traded.
“He’s a great quarterback, he’s been that way ever since he’s been to San Fran,” Wilson continued. “It’s just unfortunate that he got hurt the year before and then kind of, you know, threw him back in the wilderness a little bit but he came right back in like he never left and took a team all the way to the Super Bowl, so how can you talk about moving him? Or trading him to another team?”
Garoppolo’s statistics weren’t amazing in the playoffs. But his wins and losses are outstanding, with a 21-6 record since taking over of the 49ers (including the postseason). It’s always tough to credit a record directly to a quarterback. But it’s certainly a positive sign that Wilson and tight end George Kittle have made public displays of support for their quarterback amid the Brady rumors.
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