General manager John Lynch acknowledged this week that he is dissatisfied with Nick Mullens and CJ Beathard as backups behind starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
Lynch, speaking on the “Eye Test for Two” podcast, reiterated that he expects Garoppolo to be the 49ers’ starting quarterback in 2021.
But he said the 49ers need to consider the possibility that Garoppolo suffers another injury that puts the team’s hopes on the backup.
“We have to isolate ourselves better,” Lynch said. “We have to have better options if he is not there.”
Mullens is scheduled to be a restricted free agent, while Beathard is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent.
With a salary cap falling from $ 198.2 million to somewhere above $ 180 million, the 49ers face a balancing act to secure an improvement as a backup quarterback while leaving enough cap room to tackle. other areas of need.
Garoppolo currently has $ 26.4 million against the cap. The 49ers could easily win roughly $ 10 million in salary cap relief with a restructured deal for Garoppolo that turns a large chunk of his scheduled $ 24.1 million salary into a signing bonus.
Not only would that cap savings help create room to re-sign left tackle Trent Williams and others, but a small portion could also be reinvested in strengthening the team’s reserve situation behind Garoppolo.
Here are some veteran quarterbacks who could be options to fill that role in the 49ers depth chart: