49ers thought Jimmy Garoppolo would be traded to Commanders in offseason, per report
Wed, Sep 21, 2022
NFL News (AP)
The San Francisco 49ers lucked out having Jimmy Garoppolo remain on the roster after a whirlwind offseason of trying to trade him. San Francisco had moved on from Garoppolo and named Trey Lance their starting quarterback, looking to find a trade partner for their former starter so Lance didn't feel any pressure in his role.'
Garoppolo, who had offseason shoulder surgery which hindered any chances of him being dealt, eventually returned to the 49ers after the team agreed to rework his contract as Lance's backup. Lance lasted less than two games before a season-ending ankle injury, putting Garoppolo right back into the job he occupied for five years -- with tremendous success.'
The 49ers thought they had a taker for Garoppolo this offseason, which would have significantly altered their 2022 season if the deal was accepted. Per ESPN, San Francisco believed they had a deal done with the Washington Commanders prior to Garoppolo's shoulder surgery. Once Garoppolo decided to have surgery as his shoulder wasn't healing as initially thought, Washington moved on and made the deal for Carson Wentz days later.'
The 49ers decided to restructure Garoppolo's contract once they couldn't find a trade partner for him during training camp. Garoppolo's new deal includes $6.5 million in fully guaranteed base salary with a no-trade clause and no-tag clause attached to the deal. This allows Garoppolo to be a free agent and pick his next team in 2023.
Garoppolo now leads the offense he found great success with under Kyle Shanahan, including taking the 49ers to the NFC Championship Game in two of the last three years. He completed 68.3% of his passes for 3,810 yards with 20 touchdowns to 12 interceptions last season, recording a 98.7 passer rating and leading the league in yards per completion (12.7). Garoppolo was second in the league in completion rate (71.1%) since Week 10 and fourth in passer rating (103.6) in that same stretch. His 8.64 yards per attempt were second in the NFL.'
In Sunday's win over the Seattle Seahawks, Garoppolo went 13 of 21 for 154 yards with a touchdown, finishing with a 100.1 rating. He also had a rushing touchdown as the 49ers offense didn't miss a beat when he was in the game.'
"I thought they did some real good things," Shanahan said Monday on the offense. "I thought we did a real good job running the ball, just a collective effort from everybody. Everyone who did do it and the number of runs that we got just showed it. I thought we did a good job on third down and things like that. So overall, I was happy, but definitely want to do better."
The 49ers dodged a bullet by not trading Garoppolo. For their 2022 outlook, they may have vaulted their Super bowl chances as a result.'
