Jimmy Garoppolo is 19-5 in his 24 regular season starts with the 49ers. That’s the exact kind of record a team would want from a franchise quarterback, but Garoppolo’s weaknesses were glaring in the 49ers’ 31-20 Super Bowl 54 loss to the Chiefs.
And now, Fox Sports personality Skip Bayless wants the 49ers to completely give up on Garoppolo and pursue Tom Brady.
No, really.
During Monday’s edition of Undisputed, Bayless made a case for the 49ers to release Garoppolo and sign Brady. The Patriots quarterback, of course, is from the Bay Area, so it would present a homecoming of sorts for Brady. But on its face, the take seemed like a drastic overreaction to a game the Niners were nine minutes away from winning.
"This is what I would do: I would cut Jimmy G and sign Tom Brady for 2 more years. Brady would live and love to go home. He started as a 49er fan in San Mateo." — @RealSkipBayless pic.twitter.com/u4r1voP7RL
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) February 3, 2020
There’s also the whole money thing. Garoppolo signed a five-year, $137.5 million contract with the Niners last year. But as surprising as it sounds, Garoppolo’s contract is structured in such a way that makes his release (or a trade) feasible.
So, let’s say the 49ers were feeling weird and wanted to get rid of Garoppolo for a couple seasons of a soon-to-be-43-year-old Brady, they’d only face a dead cap hit of $4.2 million and save $22.4 million. Not bad!
But don’t forget that Brady looked thoroughly washed in 2019 and would have to jump right into Kyle Shanahan’s complicated offensive system as a 43-year-old. If the 49ers really wanted to get rid of Garoppolo, a trade would be a better route — not pursuing Tom Brady.
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