With the NFL Combine firmly underway in Indianapolis, all of the league’s infamous backroom meetings amongst NFL’s big whigs and top executives are in full swing.
For the 49ers, the Jimmy Garoppolo question remains. Where will he be traded? When will he be traded? Will he be traded?
The Athletic’s Matt Barrows joined Papa & Lund on Tuesday to discuss all things 49ers, especially Garoppolo. Greg Papa asked Barrows specifically whether he believed Garoppolo would be traded over the next two-to-four weeks.
“Yeah, I am of that camp,” Barrows said. “I would say it’s starting to happen now. I think the earliest it happens is the end of this week when everybody’s been in Indy for a few days, or leaving Indy. It’s not going to go down officially until the end of the league year.”
The problem, though, is the bigger names on the market. Barrows expects the 49ers will have to wait until the futures of players like Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson have some clarity brought to their futures, because teams would prefer those quarterbacks.
“Once Rodgers works out a deal with Green Bay, the options go down and then you start to see the movement happen with this Garoppolo trade.”
After Garoppolo gets dealt, the 49ers’ priorities will shift towards free agency, and it’s clear their main priorities are retaining their own key free agents.
Laken Tomlinson, D.J. Jones, Arden Key and Azeez Al-Shaair are among the team’s most prominent free agents, with Tomlinson and Jones the two biggest fish.
There are ways to save money, like extending Jimmie Ward or cutting/restructuring Samson Ebukam’s contact, but if it comes down to those Tomlinson and Jones, Barrows believes the 49ers have to choose Tomlinson.
“If I had to guess, let’s say they both come in at around the same price tag and the 49ers have to make a choice, I think, and I’m pretty confident in this, that they go Laken over D.J. Jones for a couple reasons,” Barrows said.
Barrows pointed to the investment the 49ers made in Javon Kinlaw, the fact that Jones has typically had injury struggles prior to this season, while Tomlinson “never misses a snap” and provides massive value and athleticism on the left side of the offensive line.
Listen to the full interview below. You can listen to every KNBR interview on our podcast page at knbr.com/podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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