The 49ers need to make a statement.
Last year, they made a clear statement: Jimmy Garoppolo was their starting quarterback, because they couldn't hand over what they considered to be a championship roster to a rookie quarterback, even though they spent three first-round picks plus a third to get him.
Now, the 49ers are oddly silent.
They seem to be handing over multiple starting positions to unproven young players, and they won't even say who their starting quarterback is — Garoppolo or Trey Lance. Their own players don't know. We assume the starter will be Lance, but the 49ers haven't said that publicly, and Garoppolo is still here. And I have a tough time seeing the 49ers keeping a $27 million backup. Which means if they keep him, he probably will play. And that's not good.
The 49ers need to make a statement. And that doesn't mean whispering to Jeremy Fowler that Lance has been given private assurances that he will be the starter.
The statement the 49ers need to make is simple: cut Jimmy Garoppolo now. He should not be on the team any longer. The third-round compensatory pick they can get by keeping him one more year is small potatoes. The 49ers need to cut Garoppolo, create cap space and tell everyone that Lance is their starting quarterback and that they believe in him. Because right now, it seems like they don't believe in him.
The 49ers took a leap of faith with Garoppolo — they traded for him even though he had just two career starts in New England. Then after five starts with the 49ers, they made him the highest-paid player in the NFL at the time AND gave him a no-trade clause. And every season, they've bent over backward to say he's their starter, no questions asked.
Time to treat Lance the same way. It's his team now. Make it official.
Take the leap of faith.