San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York comfortable if rookie Trey Lance sits for one or two years behind Jimmy Garoppolo

The San Francisco 49ers gave up a bunch of draft capital to move into the No. 3 overall slot to take quarterback Trey Lance.

The team, however, is comfortable if the rookie doesn't see the field for one season — or even two — if incumbent starter Jimmy Garoppolo has success.

“We’ve talked about this internally,” 49ers CEO Jed York told NBC Sports. “If we’re in a situation where Jimmy goes out and takes us to a Super Bowl again and has an MVP-caliber season, and does it again, there are worse dilemmas to be in. And Jimmy certainly has the ability to do that.

“Knowing it’s the most important position in sports, and it’s great to have a guy that you do believe in and has gotten you to a Super Bowl. So you don’t have to put the weight of the world on a rookie, whoever it was we were going to choose. And now that we know Trey is here, you don’t have to put the weight of the world on that kid’s shoulders. And he can grow into that position.”

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Garoppolo, 29, has been San Francisco's starter since the start of the 2017 season when the franchise acquired him in a trade with the New England Patriots. And while Garoppolo has performed well at times, he has battled several injuries, including high-ankle sprains that kept him out of 10 games last season.

He helped lead the 49ers to Super Bowl 54, when the team lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 31-20. That 2019 season was the lone one Garoppolo has been the starter for all 16 games of a regular season.

York seemed to clearly indicate, though, that even if the 49ers opt to keep Garoppolo for the next two seasons, he likely will not have his contract renewed once it expires before the 2022 season.

“And even if he (Lance) doesn’t play for two years, we still have an extra $100 million to put back into our team on top of whatever we would have for free agency for the next five years,” York said of the money the team would save from the Garoppolo contract. “It’s really an investment in the team of how do you want to build this thing.”

The 49ers shipped the 12th overall pick, a 2021 third-rounder and first-round picks in 2022 and 2023 to Miami in order to move into the No. 3 slot where they selected Lance.

Lance, who will turn 21 on Sunday, is physically gifted with height, size, speed and arm strength to play the position in the NFL, but is fairly raw and attempted only 318 passes in his career at North Dakota State. 

To come up with a comparison, York pointed to current Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who sat the first three seasons of his career after Green Bay selected him in the first round.

“If he doesn’t play until he’s 23, but he’s got a 15-plus year career …” York said. “There were rumors about a guy, and obviously Kyle talked about trading for Aaron. How long did Aaron sit? Two or three years before he played? And, again, I want to make sure that we do everything we can to make sure that position is the best it can possibly be in the NFL.”