Getty Images

The most important piece of the puzzle is in place in San Francisco, and now the 49ers will look for the complementary pieces in the 2018 NFL draft.

That’s the word from 49ers General Manager John Lynch, who said today on FS1 that the 49ers are heading into 2018 thinking that Garoppolo is the man, and now they need to use the draft to put other players in place around him.

“It frees you up in the draft to go looking for other needs and build your team around him,” Lynch said of having Garoppolo in the fold.

Lynch said he’s had his eye on Garoppolo since early in the year, but that before the draft Patriots coach Bill Belichick wasn’t interested in trading Garoppolo. Fortunately for Lynch, Belichick changed his mind before the trade deadline. Now the only issue for the 49ers is getting the soon-to-be free agent Garoppolo signed, something that Lynch sounded confident will get done.

“I know he loves it here. I know we want him to be part of our future for a long, long time,” Lynch said.

For an NFL team in a rebuilding mode, the hard part is getting the quarterback of the future. Lynch thinks that’s all taken care of, thanks to the Garoppolo trade.