On Monday, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan offered yet another vote of confidence in his quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo.
"Yes, I do believe Jimmy is going to be our quarterback next year," Shanahan told reporters via Zoom.
Shanahan was asked why he believes that. After all, Garoppolo is set to make a lot of money next season. With the salary cap expected to drop significantly, is the quarterback's return guaranteed?
"You can't say anything with certainty," Shanahan responded. "I mean, you don't sit here and make promises on anything. When we build a football team, it's your job to put the best team together year in and year out.
"People talk about Jimmy's salary, Jimmy is like one of the middle quarterbacks in the league right now in terms of salary. That's just how much they cost. So, it's not like something ridiculous or anything like that. We can work all that out.
"And not to mention, look at Jimmy's record when he's been here. Jimmy, you can win with. He's proven that. He's proven he's a starting quarterback in this league. We had a couple of other guys who got opportunities this year, who played like they have a chance, at times, to be starting quarterbacks, but they did play like backups overall.
"C.J. (Beathard) played like he had the ability to be a starting quarterback two nights ago. ... But Jimmy, there's a reason his record is what it is, and that's why we paid for him to be our starting quarterback. And to think that that's ridiculous to where his contract is — this isn't like the first year. That's how much quarterbacks cost in this league, and he's right there."
While Garoppolo is 22-8 as a starter with the 49ers, the quarterback has also missed 22 games over the last three seasons.
Shanahan also stated that the 49ers are always looking to upgrade every position, which presumably includes quarterback. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that the team is actively looking to replace Garoppolo heading into the offseason.
"We better have a very good answer if you're going to find something better than that because Jimmy's shown in one year that he's a guy that can take us to the Super Bowl, and I also think Jimmy's going to get a lot better the more he plays," Shanahan added.