Jimmy Garoppolo went from a player the 49ers openly insisted was on the trade block to one who became the team’s primary starter this season. Just before Garoppolo’s latest injury, the 49ers had moved to a point they were ready to discuss another contract with the veteran passer.
Brock Purdy‘s emergence changed the team’s plans. Despite Purdy suffering a torn UCL that is expected to sideline him for at least six months, Kyle Shanahan said he does not expect Garoppolo back. The seventh-year 49ers coach said he does not see “any scenario” in which Garoppolo is part of next year’s team, via the San Francisco Chronicle’s Eric Branch (on Twitter).
Garoppolo is set for free agency in March, but the other two 49ers quarterbacks are dealing with injuries at present. Purdy will almost certainly miss the team’s offseason program, and Trey Lance underwent two surgeries to repair a broken and dislocated ankle. Lance, however, said he expects to be 100% in time for OTAs, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com notes (video link).
With Purdy out of commission for a while and Lance coming back from a major injury, the 49ers could be in need of offseason QB help. But Shanahan does not expect the team to pursue any veterans. Both Lance and Purdy are starter-level options, Shanahan added (via Branch), and it appears the 49ers will go forward with their rookie-contract duo. Prior to Purdy’s elbow injury, he had performed at a level that was expected to give him the edge for the 2023 starting job going into training camp. Purdy’s elbow trouble reopens the door wider for Lance, who began this season as San Francisco’s starter.
Purdy has not determined a course of action yet, but GM John Lynch said (via Wagoner) the expectation is an internal brace surgery will be required. This procedure differs from Tommy John surgery, and it would be expected to sideline the seventh-round pick for around six months. Purdy would be on track to throw for a few months leading up to receiving clearance to return to action, but Sunday’s injury will certainly reshape his offseason.
Garoppolo stands to have at least one more option in free agency, as no team will be signing Tom Brady this offseason. Garoppolo’s higher-profile ex-teammate announced his retirement Wednesday, both taking him out of the equation for the 49ers — though, Shanahan did not make it sound like they would have been interested — and opening an additional chair for Garoppolo. The six-year 49ers passer was aiming to return from his foot fracture by Super Bowl LVII. Garoppolo, 31, has suffered a host of major injuries during his 49ers tenure, but as of now, he is expected to be healthy going into free agency.
The injuries — an ACL tear (2018), a high ankle sprain (2020), his shoulder procedure (2022) and now this Jones fracture — stand to affect his market. But Garoppolo will undoubtedly be linked to multiple teams ahead of free agency — the Jets are a team looking into him — as his younger 49er teammates vie for the starting job.
Jimmy G will hit Free Agency and be gone before the 49ers know how Trey’s ankle is doing. Maybe they want to go after Rodgers.
Yea smart pay him 50M when ya got Lance and Purdy playing on rookie deals. And will be healthy.
Actually, for Rodgers, the 49ers would only be on the hook for
2023 – $1,165,000
2024 – $ 2,250,000
2025 – $15,850,000
2026 – $10,000,000
The Packers would be responsible for $99,778,568 in bonuses.
The problem is that the Packers would be asking the 49ers to take more of the money problem as they would have dead cap hits about $50 million each of the next 2 seasons.
The draft pick compensation would be very minimal.
Packers will never trade Rodgers to their NFC arch-rivals the 9ers unless the compensation was exceptional
That has zero play. They will take the best deal. Green Bay isn’t ready to compete yet.
The Packers are going to ask any team trading for Rodgers to take more responsibility for the dead cap hit making the draft pick compensation minimal. They just want that contract to go away. As for right now, any team trading for Rodgers would be responsible for 29.265 million over 4 years. The rest of the money is in bonus’s which is Green Bay’s problem.
They will draft a couple of quarterbacks in the 3rd & 5th round and pray for another Purdy
Why pray for a Purdy when they have a Purdy already.
I’m sure Jimmy likes it there but I bet he’s ready to move on too…given what the Niners paid to draft Lance and how well Purdy played that would be a complicated situation for Jimmy to return to
Jimmy, like all soon to be FA’s, should go after the biggest deal. Cash in when you can.
I somewhat agree Arty. That said, if I was his agent and there were two offers on the table, I’d advise him to prioritize picking the one with the more stable ownership and FO instead of most money.
This is Arty’s long held view but I’m confused as to why he objects to Lamar going after the best deal he can get.
Because signing a deal worth 500 million to help rebuild a whole team might not be as fruitful as signing a 480 million deal with a team that already has some talent to protect you. That extra 20 million isn’t going to change your lifestyle outside of the stadium.
I’m rather dubious that the protection a running QB gets beyond the line of scrimmage is worth $20MM.
Maybe WR’s that can get open and catch. Thats something he hasn’t had in Baltimore. Thats takes pressure off of having to take off running all the time.
Ask Jalen Hurts.
It’s too bad the nfl doesn’t have a version of the sign and trade. The 49ers would make a killing.
After several redshirt seasons they can finally confirm what’s been obvious since the day it happened. Trey Lance is a bust.
I’m a Niners fan and I’m slowly beginning to admit this was a terrible waste of a trade of picks. Next year is his final year to prove what he can do.
Given his limited history, 1 season as an FCS QB, he should have never been drafted that high. Not his fault, but teams are so starved for QB1 that they’ll drive up the interest in guys. With the draft capital used to draft him at #3 overall they have to give him yet another shot to see exactly what they have.
Remember, Trey and Wentz played at a successful small school against players who had no major college or professional hope. Their string of success is destined to have a short life.
It’s not about level of competition they played IMO, Wentz played several seasons and then played at an MVP caliber early in his career. It’s amount of competition for Lance. He graduated high school and not one FBS school thought he could eventually play QB at that level so he went FCS to get that chance. He got there and sat the bench while redshirting. The next season he was phenomenal and drew a lot of attention. Then Covid pops up, games get canceled and Lance decides he’ll play one game as a showcase, he fared OK but not like he did in his previous and lone season. Now he’s got basically one season (16 games) to go off and the need for a QB is off the charts so a guy that should’ve been in the 2-3 rounds gets pushed up to the 1st and then to the top of the 1st from there. Not warranted to give up that much to grab a guy at #3 overall to be your franchise QB in the NFL when not one FBS school thought he could start in his 5 years there.
JG is like the pretty lady that kept getting ignored while throwing herself at Dwight in the office (Dwight = SF)