Going to have to disagree with this. Jimmy G is not a long term option. They drafted Lance for a reason and they have not seen what they have in him yet.
I'm not so sure that's the case, actually. Garoppolo is only 30 years old which puts him about middle aged for a typical QB lifespan. Most of the greats didn't start really coming into their own until their late twenties, early thirties. Remember how Green Bay drafting Jordan Love seemed to light a fire under Rodgers' ass? Maybe Shanahan didn't plan it that way, but imagine yourself in Garoppolo's predicament; losing your job to youngster would very likely motivate you to become the best version of yourself. If nothing else, Garoppolo now knows he has nothing to lose when it comes to his longevity with the Niners, and can only cause management to reconsider their position. Maybe he'll lose those 4th quarter jitters now that he knows only by taking risks can he overcome the perceptions of his limitations.
Admittedly, Garoppolo and Rodgers have starkly different personalities, so all the above may be nothing but wishful thinking. But, I do wish Garoppolo would succeed, he's proven to be a winning quarterback, and other than his fragility and 4th quarter/Big Game jitters, there's really very little to complain about.
The Falcons are in desperate need for a QB and the upcoming draft has a decent crop of them, so as long as the Falcons suck like most expect them to, they will be drafting one.
I haven't really paid much attention to the Falcons since they're no longer in the NFC West
(remember that shit?), so I wasn't aware of their QB blues. Unfortunately there aren't a bunch of good backups warming benches these days, so it looks like they're better served playing for the draft.
The problem is, that also doesn't say anything about the team's loyalty to the unproven QB. Granted Lance doesn't have a huge contract impacting the cap, so they'll probably keep him unless they have a very compelling offer, but I'm thinking that if a good opportunity comes up (draft or trade) they'd dump him in a heartbeat.
The same could be said about any team in the league. Teams regularly ask productive players to restructure their salaries "for the benefit of the team" and if a player chooses not to, he's criticized as being out for himself. Brady did that for decades in NE, but the minute he decided to get a semi-retirement job on the beach, decades of compromising were forgotten. If the team decides to move on from a player it's the opposite, and justified simply by saying things like "it was a necessary business decision." It's a sad commentary about the game, but that's the reality of it.
Atlanta was just the first horrible QB-less team that came to my mind, I'm sure there are other options, maybe Panthers or Texans
I doubt any team will trade for the kid, in all honesty. He didn't have a lot of playing time in college, and so far he hasn't shown us much of his abilities in the NFL. Now that he's injured, I really can't see any team offering a whole lot for him, and considering what the Niners have invested I don't see them settling for a low-ball offer.
But TBH I was just making fun of niners "blockbuster" trade to get Lance, and the QB-heavy 2021 draft in general. None of them set the NFL on fire, albeit most ended in shitty teams by design and it's still early.
That's the double edges sword of being an early draft pick; odds are you'll end up going to the shittiest team in the league (unless you're Eli Manning.)
But the Niners deserve all the criticism they're getting for giving up so much for Lance. To this day I don't believe he was Shanahan's first choice, despite the team's claims that Lance was the plan all along. I think Mack Jones would have been a better choice, or they should have traded back once they realized they were misled by Robert Salah. All indication were that Shanahan believed Salah wasn't going for a QB, and Kyle Mack would still have been available for the third pick. Most people around here believe that's the only reason Shanahan traded the farm for that third pick in the first place.
Knowing Shanahan, he probably tried to trade back once he realized Mack was taken, but wasn't getting the offers he wanted. I can just imagine him feeling like a shitcoin bag-holder after a dump once Salah took Mack. In fact, I felt the same way.