The 49ers cleared Jimmy Garoppolo to seek a trade — in March

USA TODAY Sports

Adam Schefter’s Washington Post profile last week gave the football-watching world a glimpse into the sausage-making process when it comes to NFL scoops. On Wednesday Schefter showed us a finished sausage.

Tweeted Schefter on Wednesday, July 20: “49ers have officially cleared Jimmy Garoppolo’s agents Don Yee and Carter Chow to seek trade, sources say.”

Wrote Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area on March 28: “The 49ers have given Garoppolo and his front office permission to seek a deal, [G.M. John] Lynch said.

Thus, today’s news is essentially a repeat of something the team has already revealed. Nearly four months ago.

So what’s going on here? In my opinion, this is yet another example of the favor trading that Schefter engages in to ensure that he is at the front of the line for any and all scoops. By blasting old news presented as new news to his 9.6 million followers, with the names of not one but two agents explicitly added to the ensuing social media billboard, Schefter gave Yee and Chow not only free advertising, but an attempt to revive a trading market that has been catatonic until now.

The Schefter report/deal was certainly prompted by NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport’s explanation Tuesday that Garoppolo is expected to be fully cleared in mid-August, along with our explanation that that timeline screws both the 49ers and Garoppolo. Added Schefter to his tweet: “Garoppolo has been cleared to begin practice per team source; The 49ers are still expected to be careful with him this summer.

There is a difference between obtaining a license to practice and a full license. Apparently, Yee and Chow wanted to make it clear to everyone through Schefter’s platform that Garoppolo is available in a trade now, not later.

But he was available. And nobody made a play on him.

So good. Garoppolo has been cleared to practice and is now available. Good luck with that. The Browns received a fifth-round pick from the Panthers for Baker Mayfield, who is getting just $5 million from his new team. How can the 49ers expect anything more than that for Garoppolo, barring the odd Teddy Bridgewater-type injury?

Nevertheless, Schefter did his part. He trotted out some old news in a last-ditch effort to find a potentially non-existent trade market for Garoppolo. Whenever Garoppolo makes his next move (and/or whenever Yee or Chow have any news regarding their other clients), you won’t need five guesses as to who’s going to tweet it about five minutes before it’s otherwise announced .