Maybe it was because 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan waited for two minutes while John Lund and Kevin Frandsen talked about the need to play Jimmy Garoppolo this year before he came on KNBR, or maybe the coach was feeling he needed to explain himself better. Whatever it was, Shanahan was the most revealing to date talking about whether Jimmy Garoppolo should play this season.
Shanahan brought up the franchise tag, meaning the 49ers must be heavily considering moth-balling Garoppolo this year to learn the offense and then using the $25 million franchise tag on him after the season. The tag is essentially a one-year deal.
“I know you have to franchise a quarterback in order to keep him,” Shanahan said on Tolbert and Lund Wednesday. “But quarterbacks are expensive and that is not that big a deal to us.”
The 49ers will have ample room under the salary cap to use the tag; the team might be as much as $100 million under the cap.
“That is the good thing about the franchise tag, and that’s what made it easy for us to trade for him,” Shanahan said. “Do I have to make a decision that’s fast for the long-term future of this thing? No you don’t.”
Shanahan also said there’s more to this season than just playing Garoppolo, he also wants the team to get used to winning.
“You have to try and develop a culture that isn’t just X’s and O’s and talent,” he said. “In this league, there’s a very fine line between winning and losing and a very fine line between the most talented team and the least talented team.”
Shanahan said the difference is often whether a culture of winning has been created. Shanahan seems reluctant to set the offense back in order to play Garoppolo just when the offense is beginning to expand under C.J. Beathard.
Shanahan said the adversity from losing nine straight might set a foundation for winning in the future, maybe as soon as the last six games of this season.
“(Winning) doesn’t come from just talking about it,” he said. “It comes from grinding and working and overcoming adversity and developing real experience. … The first nine games were as miserable as I can imagine. But I truly believe it’s part of the process and it can make you better in the long run. That’s what we are trying to do.”
And attempting to win now, doesn’t involve inserting Garoppolo when he’s not versed enough in the offense. At this stage, the 49ers would have a numbered system for him. Shanahan would call out the number and Garoppolo would have a wrist band that would correspond the number with the play that he’d call in the huddle.
Setting the offense back that far doesn’t appeal to Shanahan.
“C.J. played well (against the Giants),” Shanahan said. “I don’t think it’s the right thing to do to C.J., to Jimmy, or the team. … I think it would send the wrong message to the team to sit here and experiment.”