49ers don't want Jimmy Garoppolo with Seahawks for Week 2 game?

The San Francisco 49ers have until Aug. 30 at 4 p.m. ET to release or trade veteran quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. Otherwise, they'll be on the hook for his non-guaranteed $24.2M base salary and $26.9M salary-cap hit for 2022. 

There is, however, no financial benefit in cutting Garoppolo before that time, so the 49ers understandably are hoping an interested party will eventually send them at least one valuable asset for the 30-year-old now that he's been replaced atop the depth chart by 2021 rookie Trey Lance. 

The division-rival Seattle Seahawks continue to be linked with Garoppolo in trade rumors but currently have veteran Geno Smith receiving more first-team practice reps than 2019 second-round draft pick Drew Lock in their quarterback competition. San Francisco and Seattle will first face off during the upcoming regular season in Week 2 on Sept. 18, and one 49ers insider believes that matchup is a reason Garoppolo won't hit the open market before the end of this month. 

"The 49ers cannot entirely block Garoppolo from going to Seattle if they were to cut him," Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area explained in a Friday post. "But they do not want him to start to get acclimated to the Seahawks' offense so far in advance of the start of the regular season." 

It's been widely assumed since this past winter that the 49ers would not hold onto Garoppolo if they named Lance their QB1, which they did at the start of training camp. Maiocco added in his piece, though, that Jimmy G could potentially "accept a backup role and the significant pay cut that would come along with it" to stay with his current employer. 

It's unclear if he'd go down that route or bet on himself as a free agent. For now, Garoppolo is completing throwing exercises away from teammates as he works to return to full fitness coming off March shoulder surgery.