THE CHEAP SEATS WITH STEVE CAMERON: Odds of Jimmy G in Seattle shrinking by the day

If you’re waiting on Jimmy Garoppolo …

It’s a pretty safe bet that Pete Carroll isn’t standing next to you in line.

In the midst of the long-running Geno Smith-Drew Lock soap opera, thousands of Seahawks junkies have been waiting for Jimmy G to come rushing up north to save the 2022 season.

Garoppolo has been stuck someplace in a back corner of the tool shed by the 49ers, who have anointed shiny new Trey Lance as their quarterback of the future.

Never mind that Jimmy G has led San Francisco to a Super Bowl and an NFC title game in separate seasons.

He’s a goner.

If you’ve been following the whole Seahawks QB circus, you probably know that Carroll seems determined to make Smith his starter — no matter what happens Thursday night and then the final game of the preseason.

We’ll address this a bit more in a minute, but Geno is Pete’s kind of quarterback (with just one thing missing on the Carroll checklist).

Lock has a higher upside — more of a home run hitter, more mobile, but …

AS WE saw last weekend in Pittsburgh, Lock can be prone to the crucial error.

That strip sack at the end of the game was Pete’s idea of a mortal sin, no matter how effective and efficient Lock might have been throughout the second half.

Seahawks fans, though, correctly find Smith’s game to be boring — and fear they might be seeing Carroll using him to try winning a bunch of 17-13 games.

They also suspect Pete isn’t going to install Lock as QB1 — no matter what — so there is a desperate hope that, somehow, Seattle might land Garoppolo when he is inevitably cast aside by the 49ers.

Yes, there’s worry about the timing — San Francisco can hold on to Jimmy until Aug. 30 if they intend to release him, and …

The 49ers actually could stall another nine days or so to dump him, and still avoid paying his $24.2 million salary for the full season.

You can see that would be a problem, time-wise, since the Seahawks could be getting their presumed No. 1 quarterback just a couple of days before facing Denver in the regular-season opener on Sept. 12.

No problem, claims the fan base.

Use Geno (or Lock) in the first two or three games while Jimmy crams to learn every nuance of the offense, and then give him the keys.

That actually wouldn’t be impossible in a rebuilding season — yeah, we know Pete denies that very idea — and you’d have a bona fide winner as your QB down the road.

However …

Stories exploded this week that paint Garoppolo as a guy who isn’t even close to being “all in” when it comes to team success.

AS A journalist, I worry just a bit when revelations blasting a player come from one source, and he’s an anonymous assistant coach, at that.

In the world of the internet, ANYTHING can see the light of day.

The accusation, in this case, is that Garoppolo essentially vanished whenever it wasn’t mandatory to be at practice, or an OTA.

Here’s the report from a coach who was on the 49ers staff at the time, as passed along by CBS Sports …

Mike Silver of The San Francisco Chronicle quoted a source who claimed Garoppolo 'disappeared’ in most offseasons — including in 2018, immediately after he signed a five-year, $137.5 million contract.

"Once he left that press conference, nobody heard from him for weeks and weeks," the unnamed 49ers assistant coach said.

"He didn't return calls, he didn't return texts — he basically just vanished. And we were looking at each other going, 'What just happened' That basically became Jimmy G’s approach to his job," the coach said.

When his presence wasn’t contractually mandated, he was nowhere to be found.

That’s fine with the NFLPA, of course, but coaches these days expect players — especially their quarterbacks — to burn the midnight oil with extra workouts, and grind out game study until their eyes get glassy.

CAN YOU picture Pete Carroll going the extra mile to sign a quarterback who doesn’t seem interested in going the extra 10 minutes?

Again, this is all an unsubstantiated story at the moment — I’d like to hear Garoppolo’s side of things — but either way, Carroll and the Seahawks certainly should know about Jimmy’s work habits.

Or they can find out directly from the player.

Let’s just say that, while waiting around to grab a last-second, free-agent quarterback would be quite a move for the Hawks, it wouldn’t necessarily be impossible.

Carroll and GM John Schneider definitely can work “outside the box” to get a jump on the competition.

Garoppolo, like Smith, fits Pete’s criteria in a quarterback — good game manager, handles the running game, makes the necessary throws.

The one thing that neither can do very well (which Pete really desires) is connect on long passes once a defense has been softened up by the run.

For all the problems and disagreements that came up over the past decade, that was Russell Wilson’s golden calling card — the deep strike.

In fact, that exact ability is likely what gives Lock a chance to play some this year.

Maybe as a relief pitcher if the Seattle offense stalls against an eight-man front?

In whatever manner Pete chooses to dole out QB reps this season, the odds that Jimmy Garoppolo might be part of the picture are, well …

Pretty damn slim.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press three times each week. He also writes Zags Tracker, a commentary on Gonzaga basketball which is published monthly during the offseason, and weekly beginning in October.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”