Kyle Shanahan confirms Jimmy Garoppolo is no longer 49ers starting QB: ‘We have moved on to Trey Lance’

The San Francisco 49ers will have Trey Lance as their starting quarterback for this season. Head coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed the 49ers will start Lance and try to trade Jimmy Garoppolo in the coming weeks.

“We have moved on to Trey (Lance), Shanahan said as the 49ers reported to camp Tuesday. “We think Jimmy would have been traded if the surgery didn’t happen. He needed to do it, there’s no ill will there at all. It’s good to see that he is healthy, but now it’s about seeing how all this will end up.

“We’ll always think about Jimmy. He knows we have a team to think about too. We’ll work together to find the best thing for that.”

Garoppolo had offseason surgery on his shoulder, damaging any opportunity of the 49ers getting value for their starting quarterback this offseason. Not many teams are in need for a quarterback as camps opened across the league this week, nor does San Francisco have much leverage in trying to get high compensation for him. 

“He’s cleared to practice,” Shanahan said. “He does have a throwing program like all guys to when they have an elbow or shoulder surgery. There’s a protocol for how you build them up. He’ll be doing that on the side. We don’t plan on practicing him with the team, but we’ll take it day by day and constantly talk with him and hopefully we can figure out the best for both (sides). “

Garoppolo completed 68.3% of his passes for 3,810 yards with 20 touchdowns to 12 interceptions last season, recording a 98.7 passer rating and leading the league in yards per completion (12.7). He was second in the league in completion rate (71.1%) since Week 10 and fourth in passer rating (103.6) in that same stretch. His 8.64 yards per attempt were second in the NFL. 

The 49ers are taking a risk with switching from Garoppolo to Lance, as Garoppolo’s .702 win percentage is behind only Patrick Mahomes (.794), Tom Brady (.769), and Lamar Jackson (.755) for best among active quarterbacks. Garoppolo trails only Mahomes for best winning percentage on the road in league history. 

“I think all three of us are on the same page,” Shanahan said. “Jimmy understands where we’re at. We understand where we’re at. I can’t tell you how appreciative I’ve been of Jimmy and what he did for us last year. He did a hell of a job coming here in camp, winning that job, and almost taking us to the Super Bowl.”