49ers' Lynch: I could've won 5 rings playing with a QB like Garoppolo

Through 15 years as a player, John Lynch put up a potential Hall of Fame career with nine Pro Bowl appearances and a Super Bowl title.

However, the former safety believes his teams could have achieved more with a quarterback like the one he traded for in his current role as general manager of the San Francisco 49ers.

"I say, 'Man, I could have had five rings if I had a guy like that because in Tampa we never had that,'" Lynch joked to KNBR about Jimmy Garoppolo on Friday, according to Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Garoppolo started his first game for San Francisco last Sunday, and led the team to its second win of the year. The former New England Patriots quarterback completed 26 of 37 passes for 293 yards in the victory over the Chicago Bears, impressing Lynch with more than just his physical abilities.

"I think great leaders, great players… I think the greatest quality that you can't measure: Do they make people around them better?" Lynch added. "I don't think you can argue that he didn't do that for everybody on the field the other day."

Lynch also recognized that the victory was just one game against one of the league's weaker team, and advised fans to "pump the brakes and say, 'Hey, let's go see what we do this week.'"