Is The 49ers Season Bungled or Salvaged?

The 49ers have been saying that Jimmy G was done all off-season and that it was Trey Lance's team. Jimmy G gave a farewell speech after their NFC Conference Championship loss. The only problem with this message is that Jimmy G is still a 49er. First, trade talks slowed because Jimmy had surgery on his throwing shoulder without telling the team. Then the team sectioned Jimmy off, and he wasn't in team meetings or practices. The story then became that the 49ers were allowing Jimmy to seek a trade, and he just needed to pass his physical. The 49ers also heavily inferred that if a trade wasn't reached, Jimmy would be cut at the end of August before the final roster selection, voiding Jimmy G's 20 + million dollar contract.

However, when the time finally came to cut Jimmy, the 49ers restructured his deal to make him the highest-paid backup in the league and give him a no-trade clause and a no franchise tag clause. Jimmy loses out on the money he may have never gotten anyway if he had been cut. Still, he gains the ability to control his destiny and negotiate a bigger contract with the 49ers or another team.

What does this all mean? Why did the 49ers bring Jimmy Back, and will this help them or hurt them in the end? Many people who believed Jimmy would be let go will try to tell you that nobody wanted Jimmy, but that's not true. The Seahawks were interested, but they are a rebuilding team who didn't want to give up trade capital for a Qb joining their team late in the year coming off a shoulder injury. Clearly, the 49ers were interested because they couldn't let him go. The interesting part is why the 49ers were interested.

The 49ers just won big again with Jimmy G last year. He guided the team all the way to the NFC Conference Championship with a hurt-throwing shoulder. The 49ers are ready to win a super bowl now. Trey Lance may be good one day, but he's not the man today. Trey Lance was the only rookie Qb who could not take the starting job in year one. He has been inconsistent in practice and was shut out by the Texans in the 49ers preseason finale.

The 49ers kept Jimmy G because they knew they had someone they could win with if Trey got injured or didn't work out. If the 49ers were confident in Trey, they would have turned over the team to Trey Lance. Mac Jones won his starting job from Cam Newton. Belichick didn't want to split the Patriot locker room, and he believed in Mac, so he gave the team to Mac. Belichick showed he had complete confidence in Mac by cutting Mac's competition.

Teams typically cut Qb's who are a threat to compete for the starting job if they fully believe in their starter. This avoids unnecessary pressure on the Qb and prevents the locker room from choosing sides between the two. It makes it so that the team has one leader they live and die by. For the 49ers to keep Jimmy, who has won more than Trey and is more respected in the locker room, is very telling. It tells you they don't care about the media firestorm that they will deal with this season or potential locker room division. They believe having Jimmy gives them the best chance to win a Super Bowl because they don't fully trust Lance.

Are they right, though? Or have they bungled their season before it has even begun? The 49ers made the right choice and salvaged their season. They traded away the future to move up and grab Lance, who is a project Qb with Mitch Trubisky levels of college experience. They passed on Justin Fields and passed on Mac Jones. Politically the 49ers should be playing Lance based on what they gave up to acquire him.

However, while acquiring Lance at that spot may turn out to be a mistake, the more significant mistake would be doubling down on that mistake and continuing to set the team back. The Bears missed on Mitch but what really hurt them was wasting their contending roster on him. By the time they actually got the right Qb in Fields, they were rebuilding, and their window had deteriorated.

The 49ers have salvaged a bad situation. Lance can go out there and ball and prove all his doubters wrong, but if he doesn't, they can go right back to Jimmy, who had the team in tip-top shape just last year. They don't have to miss their Super Bowl window if it turns out they missed on Lance. Also, Jimmy G has maneuvered himself into a win-win situation where he either balls out and wins his job back with a new big contract or sits and goes and gets a nice contract from a contender. Most importantly, he will have a full offseason either way.