What of Jimmy Garoppolo?

It’s been a crazy week in the NFL, and the league’s new year doesn’t officially start until March 16. Earlier this week, Russell Wilson was traded to Denver, Carson Wentz was shipped out — for the second consecutive offseason — to Washington, and Aaron Rodgers, who always keeps us guessing, decided to stay in Green Bay for a whopping $200 million. And after all that, we’re still waiting for the 49ers to send quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo packing.

When San Francisco moved up in last year’s draft to select Trey Lance third overall, everyone expected Garoppolo would be out of town on the next thing smokin’. It still seems like we’re quite a ways out from hearing any official announcement on the future of Jimmy G. Now, there’s speculation about what could be going on inside the Niners franchise regarding a Garoppolo trade.

The Niners are about $4.5 million over the salary cap currently, and teams that are interested in Garoppolo are aware of this and may just be waiting until the 49ers get desperate if they can’t get under the cap before next Wednesday’s deadline. So, any team interested in Jimmy G doesn’t necessarily need to be in a hurry, knowing the Niners will need to figure something out soon.

Another issue for the Niners in trading Jimmy G is the shoulder surgery he underwent Tuesday.

This surgery is likely going to affect not only the timeframe in which they’re able to trade Garoppolo but could also make teams feel inclined to offer less for him. As the Packers were announcing the Rodgers extension and Russell Wilson was saying his goodbyes in Seattle, Garoppolo went under the knife. That may be a more significant issue for teams interested in Jimmy G as there is no clear indication if he’ll be ready to throw by the time training camps start up in the summer.

Of course, the 49ers also have the option of keeping Garoppolo for yet another year. Before the shoulder injury he suffered in the NFC championship game against the Rams, I would have said this was less than likely to happen. But now all bets are off. It really depends on Garoppolo’s rehab and recovery from the surgery. If a trade does happen for Jimmy G, it probably won’t be until around June at this point. He’ll be much further along in his rehab, and teams will be able to

evaluate where he’s at in terms of his recovery.

So, for now, everything seems to be in a holding pattern, including Lance, who still has no idea when he’s going to take over control of the offense. If the Niners keep Garoppolo, they’ll have to also juggle some other players’ contracts around to get under the cap. And that also means that Lance will likely be sitting for another year behind Jimmy G. It looks like this injury has thrown a wrench into some of San Francisco’s offseason plans.