The 2022 offseason involved not one but two quarterbacks who were waiting to be traded by teams that no longer want to keep them. With the Browns trading Baker Mayfield to the Panthers, that leaves 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo as the next quarterback to move.

The situations have some similarities, but multiple key differences. Garoppolo’s $25 million compensation package isn’t guaranteed. He could be squeezed even more aggressively than Mayfield was to cut his pay, given that Garoppolo eventually could be cut and, after he passes a physical post-shoulder surgery, have no cash in hand for 2022.

Also, the relationship between the 49ers and Garoppolo hasn’t cratered, like the relationship between the Browns and Mayfield had. The 49ers can bring Garoppolo to camp. They can keep him in bubble wrap while waiting for trade offers. (Garoppolo definitely shouldn’t play along with that; however, his “nice guy” reputation likely will be used against him by the 49ers, forcing him to make things ugly by insisting to practice and play in August, if the 49ers try to keep an oft-injured quarterback out of harm’s way while waiting for a quarterback elsewhere to get injured.)