Kyle Shanahan Admits 49ers Were in on Matthew Stafford

Jimmy Garoppolo has been a dead man walking since the 2020 season ended for the 49ers.

Looks like Kyle Shanahan has known he wanted an upgrade at quarterback.

The 49ers head coach was a guest on the Flying Coach podcast with McVay and Peter Schrager where they went over a variety of topics. One of the more interesting ones was the 49ers involvement and interest in acquiring Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford. 

"So I was trying to get involved in it," said Shanahan. "I remember Saturday I was so stressed out and finally we talked to someone, it was seven at night, and they're like, 'No, nothing's happening (with a trade) at the earliest until tomorrow, so you can finish your night.' So I'm like, alright, I'm done. I put my phone down, talk to Mandy. I'm like, alright, 'Let's go out to dinner, let's have some drinks.' Half an hour later, my buddy calls me and is like, 'I'm just telling ya, if you want Stafford, you need to get a hold of him right now.' I'm like, 'What do you mean? We just talked to people. I can sleep on this. We'll talk to them tomorrow.' 'I'm just telling you, you need to talk to him right now.' And then it was all over."

In this, Shanahan admits the 49ers were in on Stafford. This means that Jimmy Garoppolo has been a dead man walking since the 2020 season ended for the 49ers. The fact that the 49ers went through three quarterbacks and had to acquire a few more throughout the season certainly drove Shanahan crazy. 

It is already bad enough that Garoppolo is not that great of a quarterback, but now he has proven he is unreliable due to his bad luck with injuries. That is what led Shanahan to be interested in Stafford. That is what lead him to sacrifice future draft picks to acquire Trey Lance. He is done with Garoppolo and it would not shock me to see him go with Lance as the starter sooner rather than later.

But just imagine what would've been with Stafford. 2021 would easily become a heavier push towards a Super Bowl appearance as well as the foreseeable future. Hopefully, Lance can become that franchise quarterback that Shanahan has dreamed of after passing on and failing to upgrade at the position since he became the head coach.