Well, this is the story that won't die. But of course no reason for it to die until Jimmy Garoppolo is actually traded. The Pittsburgh Steelers are the census landing spot for Garoppolo from the national media. But then again so is every other name. We touched on that today with our story about Russell Wilson being a target for the Steelers.
Now the interesting part of this latest Garoppolo report is that it's coming from The Atheltic's Tim Kawakami, who is the editor-in-chief for their Bay area coverage. This isn't a writer from Pittsburgh, or a national pundit, it's actually someone that is in the 'know' of all things 49ers. Usually when Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette speaks, it happens. The same can be said for Kawakami on the west coast.
Now, his first prediction is that Garoppolo will be traded by the end of the month. We have five days until it's the end of the month. Of course trades can't become official until March 16, but as we saw last season, several moves will be known, but not 'official' until the NFL calendar year flips over. The 49ers have experience in this matter from when they traded Alex Smith early on after Colin Kaepernick led them to the Super Bowl. That deal was also agreed upon in late February with the Kansas City Chiefs.
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Then his second prediction is where it got really interesting. He predicts that the 49ers will send Garoppolo to Pittsburgh in exchange for a fourth round pick in 2022, and a conditional fourth round pick in 2023. He believes that teams won't be willing to pay the high price tag that was reported earlier in the off-season of a 2nd round pick, because teams believe he is more of a placeholder until a real young franchise guy can come to town. Garoppolo is 30 years old, and that's only still considered young if you're Tom Brady.
Now if the Steelers can acquire Garoppolo for that type of value, it's a smart idea. He's going to eat up a little bit of cap room, but you can gain that all back with some restructures of TJ Watt, and Cameron Heyward. He also gives you a decent shot to win while you're finding your next franchise quarterback.
Let's not forget, Jimmy G did lead the 49ers to the NFC Championship game this year. If this trade does come to fruition, it will be imperative that the Steelers fix the offensive line quickly. He won't be able to take the abuse that Ben Roethlisberger did in 2022. He's just not as tough, and is injury prone.
Would yinz like to see Jimmy G in black and gold come March? Click to comment below!
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