NFL Trade rumors: 49ers would have ‘made a move’ for Kirk Cousins

The San Francisco 49ers did not “miss” the acquisition of Matthew Stafford. Sport’s Illustrated Albert Breer reported that the Niners never made an official offer. Peter King reported that he heard that San Francisco was in talks with Detroit.

Who knows and, honestly, who cares?

Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch said the team will look for upgrades in every position after the season. I imagine San Francisco had an initial interest. Once they found out Carolina offered the No.8 pick, as Breer mentioned, San Francisco wasn’t going to enter a bidding war for Stafford.

Turn the page on Stafford.

If you are Jimmy Garoppolo, how would you feel, as the current holder, if your team were linked to all available quarterbacks? Are you okay with moving on to 2021 knowing that San Francisco has openly tried to get past you two straight seasons?

We don’t know what John Lynch and Shanahan are saying to Garoppolo behind closed doors or to what extent what we will be hearing over the next month is accurate, but it is naive to think that this does not affect the relationship between the two parties. .

Stafford is now in your division. Deshaun Watson has made it clearer than a San Diego sky this summer that he has no interest in playing with the Texans as long as vice president of football operations Jack Easterby works at the front office. If I’m Houston, there’s no package out there that would scare Watson off.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the current options available at the quarterback and, if applicable, a Jimmy Garoppolo upgrade.

Potential upgrades

The most unpopular potential quarterback in 2021 is current starter Jimmy Garoppolo. We don’t have to get into a debate over whether he’s the division’s worst starting QB. These are the types of arguments that have been happening all weekend on social media.

Fortunately, good organizations don’t make decisions based on how fans feel on the internet. We know the team can win with Jimmy because we’ve seen him. The question is, will keeping Jimmy G be the best option for the team in the future?

Even though we’re referring to 2019, Mike Pettine no longer trains the Packers defense, and if you think Raheem Mostert is rushing over 200 yards in the NFC Championship again, then I’ll have what you have. Replicating 2019 is not sustainable, which is why we continue to have these conversations.

Kirk Cousins ​​/ Matt Ryan

Stafford moved the needle. When you think of Stafford in Shanahan’s attack, it’s easy to get excited. The same can’t be said of Cousins ​​and Ryan, who have both played for Shanahan before. As long as there’s a connection to Kyle, I doubt we’d see those two names go away.

The Vikings must first make the cousins ​​available. We explained that acquiring Cousins ​​was more of a sideways move when you factor in his contract. The exchange of cousins ​​would represent a cap of $ 20 million for the Vikings. If distributed in San Francisco, Cousins’ cap hit would be fully guaranteed in 2021 at $ 15 million. In 2022, Cousins’ cap reached $ 35 million, although there is no guarantee in his contract.

If the Falcons were willing to trade Ryan with a post-June 1 appointment, Ryan’s contract would become cheaper than Garoppolo’s. You would have to pay Atlanta to offload Ryan’s contract, but nowhere near as much as the Rams had to pay to offload Goff’s. Realistically, your third-round pick should do the trick for Ryan. I would go two third round picks if I needed to.

Ryan is 35, but since 2008 he has missed three games. Three! Don’t be fooled by Ryan’s age. He is still able to throw the ball into the field. Ryan attempted 78 passes for 20 yards last season, with PFF scores of 74.2 on the left outside, 81.0 in the middle and 92.0 on the right outside. Ryan is still a quality quarterback, and I imagine if you polled the NFL folks they’d say he’s an upgrade.

As for Cousins, he has a terrible reputation among 49ers fans. For me, they see a lot of Garoppolo in Cousins. It’s also easy to remember the bonehead games Cousins ​​made over the past two seasons. Cousins ​​is a lot more aggressive than Garoppolo and Ryan, but he’s also a lot more reckless.

Again, we’re here, more than anything, because of the idea of ​​going into Week 7 with a backup quarterback under center. With Cousins ​​or Ryan, that doesn’t worry you.

In all of these scenarios, I would take Ryan because I know he will be on the field, give the players a chance to play and serve as the best bridge quarterback available. With Ryan, you don’t have to move premium picks, you keep your roster intact, and you don’t have the injury issues surrounding it. In addition, you save financially.

A report emerges Monday morning that the 49ers are still looking to move, and Cousins ​​is a name to watch. As long as there are question marks about Garoppolo’s health, these reports will continue to surface.

Arthur Smith must make Ryan available. The Vikings, who have built around their QB, must make Cousins ​​available. Because of this, Garoppolo and a rookie feel like the most likely options for the future. Let’s say Cousins ​​and Ryan were available, what do you choose?

We’ll be looking at the younger options on Tuesday.