NFL and San Francisco 49ers great Joe Montana joined ESPN's First Take on Wednesday and discussed Jimmy Garoppolo's future. Is Garoppolo the quarterback who will lead Kyle Shanahan's offense in 2021, or will the team look at alternatives?
That has certainly been a hot topic this offseason. It seems to be a hot topic each offseason. San Francisco has proven it can win with Garoppolo under center, but the 29-year-old quarterback has now missed 23 games over the past three seasons, bringing his durability into question.
"It's been tough for him staying healthy throughout the time he's been with the 49ers," Montana told Stephen A. Smith, Max Kellerman, and Molly Qerim Rose. "I think that becomes a concern if you can't keep him on the field. I think it's a tough decision with the cap money that he has against him.
"I don't know. You just never know. I never knew they were trying to trade me, but they were too. So, you never know what's going on behind the scenes back there."
Montana adds that he guesses that San Francisco will keep Garoppolo, though, and give the quarterback another chance to prove he can stay on the field.
"When he's in there, they've had pretty good success at winning," Montana noted. "And I think they just try to keep him healthy and see what they can get from there. And if it continues along this way, then I would imagine they would try to make a change because it's hard to get any type of consistency offensively with moving quarterbacks around in and out. No matter what they say, it's hard to do."
Montana was also asked about Tom Brady, who just won his seventh Super Bowl championship and is viewed by many as the greatest of all-time. What does Montana, who certainly deserves to be in that conversation, too, have to say about that GOAT label?
"I think Tom's taken his place on the top up there a long time ago," Montana admitted. "He's had a tremendous career, he's fun to watch, and everybody always contests over that, but when you look at what Tom's been able to accomplish in his time that he's played, I think it puts him definitely up there at the top of the list."