The San Francisco 49ers were lucky to have Jimmy Garoppolo on the roster after an offseason whirlwind of trying to trade him. San Francisco had gone from Garoppolo and named Trey Lance their starting quarterback, looking for a trading partner for their former starter so that Lance didn’t feel any pressure in his role.
Garoppolo, who underwent an off-season shoulder surgery that prevented him from being split, eventually returned to the 49ers after the team agreed to rework his contract as Lance’s backup. Lance lasted less than two games before suffering an ankle injury at the end of the season, prompting Garoppolo to return to the job he held for five years – with huge success.
The 49ers thought they had a taker for Garoppolo this off-season, which would have changed their 2022 season significantly if the deal had been accepted. According to ESPN, San Francisco believed they had struck a deal with the Washington Commanders prior to Garoppolo’s shoulder surgery. When Garoppolo decided to have surgery because his shoulder didn’t heal as initially thought, Washington went ahead and closed the deal for Carson Wentz days later.
The 49ers decided to restructure Garoppolo’s contract when they were unable to find a trading 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 a no-tag clause attached to the deal. This will allow Garoppolo to be a free agent and choose his next team in 2023.
Garoppolo is now leading the charge with which he had great success 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 last season with 20 touchdowns to 12 interceptions, recorded a passer score of 98.7 and led the league in yards per completion (12.7). Garoppolo was second in the league in percentage completion (71.1%) since week 10 and fourth in passer rating (103.6) in that same stretch. His 8.64 yards per attempt came in 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 score of 100.1. He also had a rushed touchdown as the 49ers’ offense didn’t miss a beat while in play.
“I thought they were doing really good things,” Shanahan said of the offense on Monday. “I thought we did really well running the ball, just a collective effort from everyone. Everyone who did it and the number of runs we got just showed. I thought we did well on the third place and things like that. So overall I was happy, but I definitely want to do better.”
The 49ers dodged a bullet by failing to trade Garoppolo. For their 2022 outlook, they may have increased their Super Bowl chances as a result.
#49ers #thought #Jimmy #Garoppolo #traded #offseason #commanders #report