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After 46 games spanning five seasons, Jimmy Garoppolo’s tenure in San Francisco seems to be coming to a close. Garoppolo seemed to confirm as much early this week when he signed off his Zoom press conference fresh off the heals of a loss in the NFC title game.
“It’s been a hell of a ride,” Garoppolo said in a message seemingly directed at 49ers fans. “I love you guys. See ya.”
Even if Garoppolo was unambiguous about his future, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan and GM John Lynch were of course far more coy. Shanahan praised both Garoppolo and Trey Lance and seemed to indicate that he’ll over communicate with Garoppolo about the team’s yet-to-be-determined plans.
“If we knew exactly what was happening, we would have told Jimmy,” Shanahan said. “But this season just ended and we’ve got a great, young quarterback who was a rookie and we have a great quarterback here who is a veteran. … I’ve got the ultimate respect for Jimmy and I’m very excited about Trey. We’re in a situation where we’ve got to make some tough decisions that won’t be easy. But I’m happy about that. That means you’ve got the best scenario going and that’s why we’ve got to put a lot of thought into this. And Jimmy will know everything as we go.”
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The writing is on the wall. It has been for some time. The 49ers traded up to draft Lance to be the QB of the future.
But, changing of the guard, as it turns out, may not be a tough one to navigate through, as Garoppolo has come to terms with his impending exit and expressed a desire to be traded from San Francisco to another successful team.
He said he spoke to Lynch and all sides are trying to what’s best for each other, even if nothing has materialized yet. That could change quickly, however.
“As far as the whole trade situation, John has been very clear with it,” Garoppolo said. “I think they’re trying to do the best for me, I’m trying to do the best for them and we’re working together. We haven’t really made too much progress on it, but I think things will start happening here pretty quickly.”
Garoppolo has a no-trade clause, which becomes void at the start of the new league year, meaning any trade would likely go through. The two bigger issues, though, are with Garoppolo’s health and his contract.
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Since arriving in San Francisco, he’s played in double-digit games just twice and has more often than not played in six games or less. He was relatively healthy this year, playing in and starting in 15 out of 17 games, but got hurt down the stretch with shoulder and thumb injuries, the latter of which he’s trying to avoid surgery on.
He also carries a $26.9 million cap hit into next season, the final year of his current deal. This mean’s he’d either be a very expensive rental or would likely sign Garoppolo to an extension of their own and rework some of the money.
It remains to be seen where Garoppolo lands, but he made it clear he thinks his best football is in front of him and he can help a team win.
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“I was talking to John yesterday about finding the right destination and whatever the future holds, just doing it the right way,” Garoppolo said. “I’ve got a long career ahead of me. I’m excited about it. I’m excited about the opportunities to come. I just want to go to a place where they want to win. That’s really what I’m in this game for. I’m here to play football, win football games and as long as I’ve got that and good people around me, I think the rest will take care of itself.”
Over the course of his career, Garoppolo has completed 67.7 percent of his passes for 11,852 with 71 touchdowns and 38 interceptions in his career. And though he’s led the Niners to two NFC title game appearances and a Super Bowl berth, he’s struggled in the postseason — he’s completed just 60.6 percent of his passes with four touchdowns to six interceptions in seven career playoff games.
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