Jimmy Garoppolo

49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo Out For Season

December 4th, 2022 at 8:30pm CST by Ely Allen

8:30pm: With Garoppolo likely headed to injured reserve, the 49ers plan to sign veteran journeyman quarterback Josh Johnson off of the Broncos’ practice squad, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. This will be Johnson’s fourth stint in San Francisco after spending the 2012 offseason with the 49ers, constantly being signed and released by the team throughout the 2014 season, and spending the 2020 season on San Francisco’s practice squad.

Johnson has been a member of more NFL teams than he has played years in the league, playing with 14 teams over 13 years. He signed with the Broncos at the beginning of this past offseason and was temporarily on the team’s active roster after an injury to starter Russell Wilson.

He last appeared in a game last season for the Ravens when he started in place of an injured Lamar Jackson and an absent Tyler Huntley, who had tested positive for COVID-19. The Ravens lost that game despite Johnson completing 28 of 40 pass attempts for 304 yards and two touchdowns.

Despite his three previous tenures with the organization, Johnson has never appeared in a game for the 49ers. That trend may continue as the rookie seventh-round pick, Purdy, showed he may have what it takes to pilot the 49ers offense. Johnson is likely being brought in for emergency backup duties only, considering Purdy has spent the entire season with 49ers.

6:53pm: Following this afternoon’s win over the Dolphins that saw quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo leave in the first quarter with a reported ankle injury, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has told reporters that Garoppolo will be out for the remainder of the season, according to ESPN’s Field Yates. With season opener starter Trey Lance already on season-ending injured reserve with his own ankle injury, the 49ers will be down to third-stringer Brock Purdy to lead the team for the remainder of the season.

Shanahan explained to reporters that Garoppolo actually suffered a broken foot, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, telling the media, “He’ll be out. He’ll need surgery. (He) broke a few things in there.”

Heaps of drama surrounded Garoppolo’s situation coming into the season as the veteran quarterback sought a departure from his team of the last six years. In the end, San Francisco decided to hold on to Garoppolo, hoping his trade value would increase as the season went on. The move would prove to immediately benefit the 49ers when their chosen starter to open the season, Lance, suffered a broken right ankle and underwent season-ending surgery.

Since taking over, Garoppolo has a 7-3 record as the 49ers’ starter, helping to lead the team to an 8-4 record overall, good for first place in the NFC West and a current No. 4 seed in the conference. Garoppolo has done what he always seems to do as a starter, which is simply win football games.

When Garoppolo left today’s game after only one drive, the 49ers had to reach deep into their pockets. This year’s Mr. Irrelevant, Purdy entered Week 13 as the only other quarterback on San Francisco’s active roster. Purdy not only performed admirably but was a huge contributor in helping the 49ers pull out a win against a Dolphins team that would currently sit atop the AFC if it had won today.

San Francisco faces an intriguing stretch over the last five weeks of the season. Next week will pit the seventh-round rookie against the all-time veteran as the team hosts Tom Brady and the Buccaneers. Then a short week will send them to Seattle for a Thursday night matchup against the Seahawks that could very well decide the division. They’ll come back home to face a red-hot Commanders team before closing the season with a road trip to Vegas and another division matchup versus the Cardinals.

As for Garoppolo, a quick recovery is paramount for the 31-year-old. The injury could not have come at a worse time for Garoppolo as reports came out just this morning that the veteran was open to a new contract that would keep him in San Francisco. A perceived value that was riding high at an estimated $35MM per year may take a hit now due to the injury.

Upcoming updates should reveal the severity of the damage and the seriousness of the surgery, giving us an idea of what an expected timeline for recovery will look like. With Lance likely on track to be ready for the 2023 season, Garoppolo may find himself, once again, questioning his place in San Francisco.

49ers, QB Jimmy Garoppolo Open To New Contract

December 4th, 2022 at 9:50am CST by Rory Parks

The 49ers have won four straight games to take over first place in the NFC West, and while the defense’s performance is perhaps the biggest reason for the team’s 7-4 mark, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo‘s steady presence has been a key factor as well. While much can change between now and the end of the season, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com says the Niners and Garoppolo are open to a new contract that would keep the veteran passer in the Bay Area in 2023.

Of course, Garoppolo was the subject of numerous reports throughout the offseason, as San Francisco had every intention of trading him and starting life with Trey Lance under center. Indeed, the 49ers and Commanders reportedly had the parameters of a deal in place in the early part of the year, but a March shoulder surgery forced Washington to back off and completely stagnated Garoppolo’s trade market (a recent report from Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area suggests that GM John Lynch was expecting to receive two first-round picks in a Garoppolo deal, though Maiocco himself concedes that seems unrealistic).

As the months dragged on, it became increasingly likely that Garoppolo would remain with the Niners as Lance insurance, a possibility that became reality in late August, when the two sides agreed to a restructured deal that featured a significant pay cut. Per the terms of that contract, the 49ers cannot put a franchise tag on Garoppolo at season’s end, so he will be eligible for free agency in March 2023 with no strings attached. In a free agent quarterback market that is expected to be comprised of its usual blend of question marks/retreads (Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, Teddy Bridgewater) and players that will never actually hit the market (Lamar Jackson), Garoppolo may well be the top QB available (with all due apologies to Tom Brady, who will turn 46 before the 2023 season gets underway).

He will not, therefore, come cheap. Spotrac presently estimates that he is worth roughly $35MM per year, and given his 41-19 record in San Francisco (including playoffs) and generally solid play throughout his career, that does not seem like a stretch. His injury history is concerning, though the premium that teams have to pay for quality QBs should allow him to get that $35MM AAV.

Whether the 49ers will be the team to pay him that money is an entirely different story. We heard last month that the club’s impending cap crunch — OverTheCap.com currently projects the Niners to have just $1MM in effective cap space, based on a projected cap of $225MM — could make a Garoppolo re-up quite difficult, and that would be especially true if the team is only interested in a one-year contract, as Rapoport seems to suggest. Putting aside for a moment whether Garoppolo himself would be amenable to such a pact, it just does not seem likely that San Francisco could absorb a Garoppolo contract without spreading his cap hit over multiple seasons, and a multi-year contract at the rate that Garoppolo will be seeking would double as an admission that the 2021 trade-up for Lance was a total waste of valuable draft capital.

After being reinserted into the lineup to take over for an injured Lance in Week 2, Garoppolo has thrown 16 TDs against just four interceptions while completing over 67% of his passes. That amounts to a QB rating of 103.0, the fifth-best mark in the league.

Poll: Who Will Be Jets’ Starting QB In 2023?

December 1st, 2022 at 3:58pm CST by Sam Robinson

Last week’s Jets quarterback change may not be a long-term move, per Robert Saleh, but Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com notes the expectation is Mike White will keep his new gig against the Vikings and Bills over the next two weeks. White faring reasonably well against those upper-echelon teams could keep Zach Wilson out of the picture for a while.

The Jets have assembled a quality defense quicker than most expected. After ranking last in both total defense and scoring last season, the Jets are a top-five team in both categories in Saleh’s second season. Their defense sits fourth in DVOA, creating legitimate playoff aspirations for the first time since 2015. The Jets have a chance to snap the NFL’s longest playoff drought (11 seasons), leading Saleh to yank Wilson. That move is atypical for a player with Wilson’s draft pedigree and injects uncertainty into the Jets’ quarterback plans beyond 2022.

No quarterback selected in the top five has been benched for performance reasons before the end of his second season since the Bengals sat down 1999 No. 3 overall pick Akili Smith midway through the 2000 campaign. Wilson being shut down represents an obvious red flag about his future. Will the Jets be able to pivot back to last year’s No. 2 overall pick?

QBR places Wilson in 25th, actually two spots ahead of Aaron Rodgers, after the BYU product finished 30th in this metric as a rookie. Passer rating is far less kind; no starter checks in behind Wilson’s 72.6 mark there. Joe Flacco remains the Jets’ touchdown pass leader, with five, despite having exited after three starts to clear another path for Wilson. The Jets used a top-three pick on a quarterback twice in a four-year span, but while Sam Darnold was not holding a well-built defense back, Wilson was. Rumblings of teammates’ waning confidence in the fast-rising prospect surfacing this past offseason certainly open the door to the Jets needing to consider other options for 2023.

White torched a battered Bears secondary, doing so more than a year after he posted the first Jets’ 400-yard passing performance since Vinny Testaverde in 2000. The former Cowboys fifth-round pick has been with the Jets since 2019, initially landing a practice squad gig, and has enjoyed spurts of popularity over the past two seasons. The Jets demoted Flacco for the ex-Day 3 draftee earlier this season. White’s next two performances will help illustrate if the Jets can legitimately consider him for their 2023 starting gig. White, 27, will need to be re-signed next year. His putting together more quality starts will complicate that process for the Jets.

Saleh and OC Mike LaFleur‘s San Francisco ties create a natural path for Jimmy Garoppolo, whom the 49ers cannot retain via the franchise tag due to the sides’ August restructure. Then committed to Wilson, the Jets were not closely linked to Garoppolo during this year’s long-running (and ultimately fruitless) trade sweepstakes, but this could easily become a much-rumored landing spot for the ex-Patriots second-rounder. Will the 49ers, however, be so quick to move on and give the keys back to the largely untested Trey Lance?

A veteran deal would mean cutting into the advantage Wilson’s rookie contract creates, but if Wilson cannot do enough to stay on the field, the Jets need to regroup to capitalize on the defense they have built. The Broncos took this route in 2018, which would have been No. 26 overall pick Paxton Lynch‘s third season. Denver waived the first-round bust months after signing Case Keenum.

The Raiders have not lived up to expectations in Josh McDaniels‘ first season, and the second-chance HC — who is likely to return for another season — has a slim window to unload Derek Carr‘s three-year, $121.4MM contract. Three days after Super Bowl LVII, Carr is owed $40.5MM — his 2023 salary and $7.5MM of his 2024 base — creating an avenue for a trade. The Jets would need to act swiftly, and it would wall off a Garoppolo path a month before it could open. But Carr could be available ahead of his age-32 season, should McDaniels want a fresh start.

On the other end of the timing spectrum, Rodgers could conceivably be available next summer. While Rodgers trade speculation has ultimately provided endless content and no action, the Packers structured his record-setting $50.3MM-per-year contract to include a 2023 option bonus ($58.3MM) that can be paid out at any point from the start of the 2023 league year to the day before next season. It would cost the Packers only $15.8MM in dead money, per OverTheCap, to trade the contract after June 1. The Jets would be making a familiar move, trading for a future Hall of Fame Packers QB in his late 30s, but this scenario will undoubtedly be mentioned. Rodgers, who backtracked on his trade demand in 2021 and passed on leaving Green Bay this year, does not have a no-trade clause.

For the first time since 2016, they are not poised to have a top-12 pick. What other options would be available for Gang Green? The Seahawks are aiming to re-sign ex-Jet Geno Smith, while Daniel Jones hopping New York teams seems unlikely as well. Gardner Minshew and brief Jet Teddy Bridgewater are also slated to hit the market. Tom Brady, as it should be at least noted, is also due for free agency. If the Lions land their QB prospect in the draft, Jared Goff stands to be available. As this year’s quarterback carousel showed, more options could be on the table.

Vote in PFR’s latest poll and weigh in with your thoughts on this unusual situation in the comments section.

Panthers QB Notes: Darnold, Mayfield, Rhule, Herbert, Stafford, Tepper, Watson

November 19th, 2022 at 6:32pm CST by Sam Robinson

Although the Panthers are starting Baker Mayfield in Week 11, they want to see Sam Darnold in action this season. Steve Wilks said he would like to give Darnold some work, though the interim HC did not indicate that would be certain to happen this week against the Ravens. “I’m interested in winning the game. This is not pay $250 to get to play,” Wilks said, via The Athletic’s Joe Person (on Twitter).

Carolina used one of its injury activations to move Darnold onto its 53-man roster last week, but the former No. 3 overall pick did not see any action against the Falcons. P.J. Walker is out of the picture for the time being, after becoming the third Carolina QB this season to suffer a high ankle sprain. Mayfield will make his first start since sustaining his ankle injury in Week 9. Here is the latest from what has become one of the more complex QB situations in recent NFL history:

After playing hurt last season, Mayfield has not turned it around. On the radar for a potential franchise-QB deal in 2021, Mayfield is on track for free agency for the first time. The market for the former No. 1 overall pick may check in at $5-$7MM on a prove-it deal, David Newton of ESPN.com notes. Mayfield’s 17.7 QBR ranks last in the NFL.
This situation has been in flux since Cam Newton‘s 2019 foot injury. Prior to the team making the Newton-for-Teddy Bridgewater change, GM Marty Hurney and most of the Panthers’ scouts were high on Justin Herbert. But Matt Rhule did not view 2020 as the window to draft a quarterback, with Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com indicating in an expansive piece the team saw a jump from No. 7 overall to No. 4 — ahead of the QB-seeking Dolphins and Chargers — as too costly. While then-Giants GM Dave Gettleman was not keen on trading down, going most of his GM career without ever doing so, the Panthers not making a push for Herbert has led to QB chaos.
After the Panthers determined Bridgewater — a preference of former OC Joe Brady — would be a one-and-done in Charlotte, they made a big offer for Matthew Stafford. Negotiations between new Panthers GM Scott Fitterer and Lions rookie GM Brad Holmes at the 2021 Senior Bowl led to Panthers brass leaving Mobile believing they were set to acquire Stafford, Fowler notes. It is interesting to learn how far the GMs progressed in talks, because Stafford made it known soon after he did not want to play for the Panthers. The Rams then came in late with their two-first-rounder offer, forcing the Panthers and others to look elsewhere.
Rhule then pushed hard for Darnold, Fowler adds, after Panthers staffers went through film sessions evaluating he, Carson Wentz and Drew Lock. The Panthers sent the Jets second-, fourth- and sixth-round picks for the former No. 3 overall pick and picked up his guaranteed $18.9MM fifth-year option. Owner David Tepper begrudgingly picked up the option but became irked by the 2023 cost hanging over the franchise, per Fowler. Tepper is believed to have held up this year’s Mayfield trade talks in order to move the Browns to pick up more money on his option salary. The delay was connected to the Panthers already having Darnold’s fifth-year option to pay.
Tepper’s main prize during this multiyear QB odyssey, Deshaun Watson, was leery of the Panthers’ staff uncertainty, Fowler adds. All things being equal between the four finalists — Atlanta, Carolina, Cleveland, New Orleans — the Panthers were not believed to be Watson’s first choice. The Falcons were viewed as the team that would have landed Watson if the Browns did not make that unprecedented $230MM guarantee offer.
Fitterer offered support for a Mitch Trubisky signing this offseason, according to Fowler, who adds the team never engaged in extended talks with Jimmy Garoppolo‘s camp. While Garoppolo said the Panthers were in the mix, the team was believed to be leery of his injury history. Trubisky is in Year 1 of a two-year, $14.3MM deal. While Trubisky may well be available again in 2023, the Panthers — having added six draft picks from the Christian McCaffrey and Robbie Anderson trades — will be connected to this year’s crop of QB prospects.

Trade Deadline Notes: Burns, R. Smith, 49ers

November 6th, 2022 at 12:33pm CST by Rory Parks

The trade deadline passed on Tuesday, but reports of near-deals and trade talks featuring high-profile players continue to trickle in. Though the NFL trade deadline may never produce the anticipation that the MLB deadline seems to generate, NFL front offices are increasingly amenable to making deals, and this year’s deadline day brought with it 10 trades and 12 players changing teams, both league records. As Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets, that type of activity is wildly popular among fans and therefore good for business, and Yates’ ESPN colleague, Adam Schefter, says multiple clubs have reached out to the league office this week to discuss the possibility of moving future deadlines to later dates.

In 2012, the league pushed the deadline back two weeks, from the Tuesday after Week 6 to the Tuesday after Week 8. Another move could see the deadline moved to sometime after Week 10 or Week 12, which would presumably produce even more trades. The idea is that, the later the deadline, the more clarity teams will have with respect to their status as a playoff contender, which will lead to more trade activity. Schefter hears that the issue will be raised at the general manager committee meetings later this month.

Now for more fallout and other notes from this year’s deadline extravaganza:

Teams were perhaps most interested in improving their receiving talent at the deadline, as players like Chase Claypool, Calvin Ridley, Kadarius Toney, and T.J. Hockenson changed hands on or before deadline day, and big names like Brandin Cooks, Jerry Jeudy, DeAndre Hopkins, and D.J. Moore generated conversations as well. According to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, the aggression on that front was inspired at least in part by a weak 2023 class of free agent receivers headlined by the likes of Jakobi Meyers, Deonte Harty, Nelson Agholor, Allen Lazard, Mecole Hardman, and JuJu Smith-Schuster. On a related note, Joel Corry of CBS Sports believes that, if the Saints choose to move on from Michael Thomas this offseason, they may find a number of suitors, despite Thomas’ recent injury woes (Twitter link).
It was indeed the Rams who were willing to trade two first-round picks to the Panthers in exchange for DE Brian Burns, as Jones writes in a separate piece. Confirming prior reports, Jones says Los Angeles offered its 2024 and 2025 first-round selections — the team is without a 2023 first-round pick to due to last year’s Matthew Stafford trade — and he adds that the club also included a 2023 second-round choice in its final proposal. Carolina gave serious consideration to the offer, but it ultimately elected to hold onto Burns, which will increase the player’s leverage in offseason extension talks. Per Jones, Burns is likely to land a deal that far exceeds the $110MM pact that the Dolphins recently authorized for their own deadline acquisition, Bradley Chubb.
Speaking of the Panthers, we learned earlier today that the club also turned down a first-round pick for Moore. The Panthers’ reticence to trade its young talent (aside from Christian McCaffrey, of course) was on full display at the deadline, and while the decisions to retain Moore and Burns were certainly defensible, every executive with whom Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post spoke was shocked that the club did not pull the trigger on Burns. “I can’t believe they turned [the Rams’ offer] down. Now they almost have to pay him whatever he wants because everyone knows they turned down two [first-round picks] for him,” one GM said. Apparently, cornerback Donte Jackson also drew some trade interest, though another GM said the Panthers were asking too much for him as well.
The 49ers‘ acquisition of McCaffrey will necessitate some “bean-counting creativity” from GM John Lynch this offseason, as Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle opines. The team’s impending cap crunch, intensified by McCaffrey’s $12MM cap hit for 2023, will make it more difficult for the club to retain QB Jimmy Garoppolo — though that may not have been in the cards anyway — and RT Mike McGlinchey.
Bears head coach Matt Eberflus acknowledged that one of the reasons his team traded linebacker Roquan Smith is because of Smith’s lack of ball production relative to his peers, particularly the peers who have contracts that Smith wants to top, as Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic writes (subscription required). Compared to fellow 2018 draftee and three-time First Team All-Pro Shaquille Leonard, for instance, Smith has five fewer interceptions (seven), 16 fewer forced fumbles (one), and six fewer fumble recoveries (one) over the course of his career.
The Lions‘ trade of Hockenson will naturally create more playing time for second-year pro Brock Wright — who is expected to step into the starting TE role — and fifth-round rookie James Mitchell, as Tim Twentyman of the team’s official website notes. Mitchell, who is still strengthening and rehabbing the torn ACL he suffered as a collegian at Virginia Tech in 2021, has played just 21 offensive snaps this season but offers big-play upside at the tight end position.

Matt Rhule Latest: QBs, Giants, Brady

October 14th, 2022 at 11:32am CST by Sam Robinson

Despite authorizing a seven-year contract to lure Matt Rhule from Baylor, Panthers owner David Tepper cut the cord this week. Tepper did so less than three years after he outmuscled the Giants for Rhule, who was believed to have preferred the Giants job to the one he ended up taking. After the Giants sent a private plane for Rhule’s January 2020 interview, Tepper upped his offer from six years to seven, according to Joe Person of The Athletic (subscription required). The seven-year, $62MM contract ensured Rhule never boarded that plane.

Although Rhule reached out to the Giants to see if they would match, John Mara viewed such a contract as exorbitant for a coach without much NFL experience. Still, the Giants preferred Rhule to Joe Judge that year. The Panthers, who paid Baylor a $6MM buyout fee in 2020, will not be forced to pay out Rhule’s guaranteed $40MM-plus remaining. Carolina is on the hook for Rhule’s 2022 salary, but the remaining cash will be offset by the coach’s next college gig — whenever that comes to pass. Here is the latest from the Rhule dismissal:

The Panthers made a quarterback splash in 2020, giving Teddy Bridgewater a three-year deal worth $63MM. Then-OC Joe Brady lobbied for Bridgewater, whom the young coach worked with during his time with the Saints, Person adds. Bridgewater was by far the best QB option during the Rhule period, with the Sam Darnold, Cam Newton 2.0 and Baker Mayfield (so far) stays producing bottom-end work.
Another option for Carolina would have been Justin Herbert, but Person notes the team did not want to give up the draft capital necessary to trade up for the Oregon prospect. The Panthers held the No. 7 overall pick in 2020; Herbert went sixth to the Chargers. Carolina, however, may have needed to trade up to No. 3 (Detroit) to secure Herbert or Tua Tagovailoa real estate. The Dolphins and Bolts likely were not open to moving down, and at that point, Dave Gettleman had never traded down during his time as the Giants or Panthers’ GM. The Panthers liked Herbert as a prospect, but they ended up taking Derrick Brown at 7. That certainly qualifies as a notable “what if?” for the organization.
After the Panthers passed on Justin Fields and Mac Jones in 2021, they were linked to ex-Rhule Temple recruit Kenny Pickett at No. 6 this year. But Carolina did not view Pickett as worthy of such a high pick, Person adds. GM Scott Fitterer openly said before the draft the team would have the tackle prospects rated above all the QB talents in this year’s draft. Other teams tended to agree, with the Steelers nabbing Pickett at No. 20 — without trading up — and no other QBs coming off the board until Round 3.
Rhule’s decision to fire Brady after going on vacation during Carolina’s 2021 bye week did not sit well with some players, per Person. Rhule encouraged players to get away that week and kept his travel plans, but Brady and QBs coach Sean Ryan stayed in town to work with the recently re-signed Newton as he learned the Panthers’ new offense. Brady’s firing leaked on the Sunday during Carolina’s bye week, when Rhule returned to Charlotte. Brady is now the Bills’ quarterbacks coach.
Jimmy Garoppolo said the Panthers were one of the teams that showed interest in trading for him. “Things were advancing with a couple different teams,” Garoppolo said, via the San Francisco Chronicle’s Eric Branch. “They were at the top of the list, I would say. One of the top couple, but I’m glad the way things worked out and I’m here.” The Panthers were among the teams skittish about Garoppolo’s salary, leading to his 49ers restructure, and his injury history was an issue with some Carolina staffers. Carolina acquired Mayfield in early July, but, adding to this franchise’s recent quarterback complications, Tepper’s desire to not overpay led to a delay that went against Rhule and Fitterer’s wishes.

The Changing 49ers QB Outlook

September 24th, 2022 at 8:30pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Kyle Shanahan–John Lynch regime has seen some twists and turns alter its quarterback plans. Although quarterback consistency has eluded this duo for much of its six-season run in San Francisco, the plan to circle back to Jimmy Garoppolo will keep the 49ers in place as an NFC contender.

QB doors not opened hover over this 49ers era. Whereas Garoppolo has dealt with numerous injuries during his San Francisco stay, Shanahan’s initial plan — a 2018 Kirk Cousins free agency addition — probably would have allowed the team better fortune on the health front. The team was also connected to Tom Brady in multiple offseasons, with Lynch shooting his trade-inquiry shot back in 2017 and the Bay Area native being interested in signing with the then-reigning NFC champions in 2020. 49ers ties emerged even during Brady’s brief retirement window.

Shanahan and Lynch went from passing on QB answer in their first draft — one that saw the 49ers trade down from No. 2 to No. 3 and pass on Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson (and Mitch Trubisky, who went second overall) for since-departed defensive lineman Solomon Thomas — before seeing a long-term starter fall into their laps at that year’s trade deadline. That October 2017 trade, which cost the 49ers a second-round pick (No. 43 overall), is still paying dividends five years later.

The Garoppolo era appears near an end, but the 49ers are suddenly all-in again on a player who spent the offseason, training camp and preseason away from the team. Trey Lance‘s season-ending ankle injury dealt an inexperienced prospect a tough blow, but the Week 2 setback — albeit awkwardly — may have bolstered one of the NFL’s top rosters. Garoppolo’s re-emergence figures to stabilize the 49ers, providing them perhaps a considerably elevated floor. (An early-season Lance benching was already being rumored.) Instances in which a contending team loses a QB1 and is viewed as better for it are not exactly common throughout NFL history; this could be one of the few.

This reality nearly fell apart months ago, as the 49ers came close to trading Garoppolo before his value-hijacking March shoulder surgery. The Browns, Rams and Seahawks later loomed as a destinations in the event the 49ers cut him — this saga’s expected endgame in its final weeks. Although the 49ers have said the plan all along was to trade their four-plus-year starter, he always loomed as unusual Lance insurance. The 49ers drafted one of the most atypical quarterback prospects in league history last year, and the Division I-FCS product’s inexperience made going into the season without Garoppolo a tremendous risk. Yet, that appeared the plan. Lynch’s suggestion to approach Garoppolo with a pay-cut proposal ended up preventing one of the NFC favorites from seeing Lance’s injury leave them with an untenable in-house starter option.

While Garoppolo gives Shanahan a safer option to lead a three-All-Pro offense, the 49ers are in one of the weirder places at quarterback in recent memory. Their No. 3 overall pick will have finished his first two seasons with four starts and 102 pass attempts. Those numbers are not unprecedented by any means, but this is obviously a different situation compared to the likes of Jordan Love or busts Johnny Manziel (eight starts through two seasons) and Paxton Lynch (four). Lance, who could be kept through 2025 via the fifth-year option, remains firmly in San Francisco’s plans (indeed, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that the Niners remain fully committed to Lance, who has a four- to six-month recovery timeline). But this rehab year will nix another shot at in-game development. These chances have continually been taken away from the North Dakota State alum.

Entering 2023, Lance will have just season of regular starter work on his post-high school resume. After redshirting in 2018, Lance tore up the FCS level (albeit with that tier’s best program) with 28 touchdown passes and no interceptions and led the Bison to another national championship. The COVID-19 pandemic led most of college football, save for Division I-FBS, to cancel its 2020 seasons (for the fall, at least). After a one-game 2020, Lance declared for the draft. Despite a highlight reel consisting entirely of redshirt-freshman plays, the dual-threat talent managed to follow fellow Bison standout Carson Wentz by becoming a top-three draftee. But Lance suffered a finger injury in 2021, limiting him during a season in which he was not viewed as a Garoppolo threat.

A sought-after QB prospect having thrown 420 passes in five seasons since high school is historically unusual territory for a player still expected to be a long-term NFL starter. Lance’s misfortune comes after an inconsistent preseason, one that helped push the 49ers to solidify a Garoppolo recommitment. A rocky Week 1 start on a waterlogged Soldier Field enhanced the mystery surrounding Lance’s status. A high ceiling may remain, but after four years away from full-time duty, can the 49ers be sure? San Francisco is also now veering toward Green Bay-Love territory; the 49ers will have gotten next to nothing from a first-round QB contract through two years. Though, Garoppolo’s restructure gives the team some flexibility the Packers lack thanks to Aaron Rodgers‘ record-setting $50.3MM-per-year extension.

Fielding an NFC championship-qualifying team with scant contributions from a No. 3 overall pick highlights the 49ers’ roster strength. Last year’s success and this year’s largely Lance-less operation also magnify the franchise’s decision to trade two future first-round picks to move up nine spots for such an unproven commodity. The 49ers have won in spite of their 2021 Lance- (or Mac Jones?)-motivated decision. It is understandable the 49ers dealt into future draft arsenals to land a quarterback upgrade, as Garoppolo (12th- and 13th-place QBR figures in 2019 and ’21, respectively) maxes out as an above-average option. But the team made a luxury pick with a Super Bowl-caliber roster in place.

The Shanahan-Jones connection likely will not fade anytime soon. Although Jones was not viewed on Lance’s level as a prospect last year, the 49ers’ April trade was initially believed to be for the Alabama QB. The 49ers went through an extensive investigation into Jones, the eventual Patriots pick at 15, before deciding on Lance. A report indicating the 49ers, who had held 2021’s No. 12 overall selection, being worried about the Patriots leapfrogging them for Jones does point to the less mobile passer being their initial preference. While Shanahan said both Lance and Jones would have been good options, the Jones what-if could linger.

Lance’s injury also thrusts Garoppolo’s health history back to the forefront. In addition to the shoulder malady sidetracked his trade market, the ninth-year vet played through calf and thumb issues in 2021, went down with a season-ending ankle problem in 2020 and missed most of the ’18 season due to an ACL tear. The 49ers having 2022 Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy and practice squad journeyman Kurt Benkert as Garoppolo’s only backups suddenly becomes a concern. Shanahan’s intermittent success with a rookie UDFA (Nick Mullens) notwithstanding, the team turning back to the trade market — this time to supplement Garoppolo — would make sense.

A backup with multiple years of control could be a priority as well. Garoppolo’s 2018 extension expires in March. The 49ers venturing to two NFC title games in three seasons without a high-end quarterback represents an achievement when considering the position’s rise in stature as rule changes have pushed most teams to build around the passing game. The quarterback that drew scrutiny for holding his team back being viewed as a rejuvenation tool is ironic, but the 49ers did well to forge this compromise. It could go down as a seminal compromise.

But little is settled for the team beyond 2022. After Garoppolo makes another push at a Super Bowl championship, his restructure’s no-franchise tag clause would stand to lead him to free agent market unlikely to include many attractive options (Lamar Jackson is not hitting the market, and Year 23 might actually be it for Brady). At that point, the paused Lance era will return to the 49ers’ front burner. Lance’s uncertain trajectory will be appropriate for a team that has seen its QB situation produce a highly unpredictable contender during the Shanahan-Lynch period.

49ers Expected Commanders To Trade For Jimmy Garoppolo; Browns Were Interested In FA Deal

September 21st, 2022 at 10:10pm CST by Sam Robinson

Compared to the offseasons leading up to the 2020s, this decade has brought more movement among veteran quarterbacks. While the 49ers are now grateful their efforts to become part of this year’s action-packed QB carousel failed, as Trey Lance is out for the season, they expected Jimmy Garoppolo to end up somewhere else.

John Lynch has said he was talking to multiple teams at the Combine about moving the longtime San Francisco QB1. One of those appears to be the Commanders. During the initial part of Garoppolo’s complex year, before his shoulder surgery, the 49ers believed the Commanders would be the team that traded for the ninth-year passer, according to Tim Keown and Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com. Indeed, fellow ESPN scribe Adam Schefter reports that San Francisco and Washington had the parameters of a deal in place, a deal that would have involved multiple draft picks.

With Ron Rivera indicating the Commanders were pursuing several veteran QBs this offseason — one that included a three-first-rounder offer for Russell Wilson — it was already clear that Garoppolo was on the team’s radar. But the March shoulder surgery — a procedure Garoppolo’s camp believed he could avoid — changed everything, leading to a months-long market standstill. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reiterates the Commanders’ interest in Garoppolo, and he adds that the Colts were involved as well. That jibes with RapSheet’s reporting from earlier this year, though other reports indicated Indy was not particularly serious.

Regardless, teams were plainly concerned about Garoppolo’s timetable and his willingness to accept a pay cut, Jeff Howe of The Athletic notes (subscription required). Shortly after it became known Garoppolo would undergo shoulder surgery, the Colts swung a deal for Matt Ryan and Washington moved on to Carson Wentz, acquiring the former No. 2 overall pick for two Day 2 draft choices and a 2022 second-round pick swap.

Such a haul would have been a value coup for the 49ers, who were staring at the prospect of releasing Garoppolo. But the 49ers’ Super Bowl hopes again hinge on their injury-hounded starter remaining available. Garoppolo’s 2018 ACL tear did not appear to derail a Super Bowl threat, but his 2020 ankle malady certainly hurt one. The 30-year-old passer’s three injuries last season (calf, thumb, shoulder) limited him at points, with the latter two issues plaguing him in the playoffs.

“It was right in the middle of training camp, [Kyle Shanahan] kind of just called me in one day and threw out the idea, and it really wasn’t even on my radar until he said something about it,” Garoppolo said of the team’s offer to bring him back on a restructured deal, via Albert Breer of SI.com. “And then he kind of laid it out and obviously the restructure is what it is, I think it had to be done just with the situation. I know it sounds weird, but things kind of just fell into place, honestly. It wasn’t like I was planning on this happening or anything.

“… I mean, honestly, at one point, I didn’t think I was going to be a Niner. I was pretty set on going to a couple different teams I had in mind. And then all of a sudden things switched last second.”

Lynch initially approached Shanahan about circling back to Garoppolo, according to ESPN, but the sixth-year HC did not expect Garoppolo to accept a backup role or a restructure that reduced his salary. Garoppolo was set to make $24.2MM in base salary; that number is down to $6.5MM. But the incentive package that can move the deal to $15.45MM has already begun paying out. Garoppolo receives $250K for each game in which he takes at least 25% of the offensive snaps. Each game in which that snap threshold is met and the 49ers win produces another $100K.

Had the restructure not occurred and a Garoppolo release took place, ESPN adds the Browns were prepared to explore a free agency addition. Conflicting reports emerged about Cleveland’s interest in adding Garoppolo as a better Deshaun Watson fill-in option, with the five-game add-on to the new Browns starter’s suspension igniting these rumors. Although the 49ers gave other teams permission to negotiate a revised deal with Garoppolo, the Browns joined the rest of the NFL in being unwilling to part with assets for him. The Rams were interested in a possible Garoppolo free agency deal; the Seahawks were also believed to be interested in such an agreement. Instead, Garoppolo re-emerged to lead the 49ers to a one-sided win over Seattle.

Jacoby Brissett will be asked to complete the 11-game bridge to Watson, while Wentz is still on the Eagles extension he signed in 2019. The Commanders have him signed through 2024, though no guaranteed money is on the deal beyond this season. Garoppolo is on track for free agency in 2023.

49ers’ Trey Lance Undergoes Ankle Surgery

September 19th, 2022 at 2:47pm CST by Adam La Rose

2:47pm: In a statement, the team confirmed that the procedure was successful in repairing a “fibula fracture and ligament disruption.” The 49ers are confident that Lance will be able to make a full recovery in time for the start of the 2023 season.

1:54pm: One day after his season came to an abrupt end, Trey Lance is beginning the recovery process which will allow him to get back on the field. The 49ers quarterback is undergoing surgery to repair his fractured and dislocated ankle today, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets.

Lance was carted off the field during yesterday’s game against the Seahawks. The injury was immediately thought to be serious, and it was confirmed not long after that season-ending surgery would be required. Pelissero notes that the 22-year-old did not suffer a compound fracture, but that provides little in the way of consolation considering the blow this injury represents to his career arc and San Francisco’s QB plans.

2022 was meant to mark the beginning of Lance’s tenure as the undisputed starter, something which was signalled last April when the 49ers traded up to draft him third overall. Veteran Jimmy Garoppolo helped guide the team to the NFC title game last year, but was thought to be a key figure in the offseason’s quarterback market. A shoulder injury left San Francisco with few suitors outside of their division, however.

Ultimately, he stayed in San Francisco on a deal which greatly reduced his base salary but includes plenty of incentives. The fact that he has now once again become the No. 1 gives the 30-year-old significant earning potential. As detailed by ESPN’s Field Yates (on Twitter), Garoppolo could make $5.6MM based on playing time and victories, in addition to his $6.5MM base salary, which is fully guaranteed.

A repeat of last year’s success (along with that of the 2019 campaign, in which the 49ers went to the Super Bowl) cannot be ruled out, given Garoppolo’s track record. Still, he is scheduled to hit free agency this spring, while the 49ers will no doubt keep an eye on the recovery process of their presumed future franchise signal-caller.

49ers QB Trey Lance Out For Year

September 18th, 2022 at 10:10pm CST by Adam La Rose

6:20pm: The 49ers confirmed in a tweet this evening that Lance “has suffered a broken right ankle and will require season-ending surgery,” according to Shanahan.

5:51pm: It seems the 49ers will have to face the worst-case scenario of today’s injury as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that Lance’s ankle injury “is expected to require surgery that likely will end his season.”

San Francisco is fortunate, in the short term, that they held on to Garoppolo who will likely step in to quarterback the 49ers for the remainder of the season. There were whispers around the league that a trade could still be in the books as teams like the Cowboys saw significant blows to the quarterback position.

In the long-term, San Francisco has to have some concerns about the development of its young investment at quarterback. It’s certainly not Lance’s fault, but, if the rumor of his season ending are true, Lance will have gone three years in the NFL without playing any significant, consistent time at quarterback. In a sport that requires constant practice and refinement of skill, this is a disastrous start to what should be a promising career for Lance.

3:36pm: Today marked a significant point in Trey Lance‘s young NFL career. Instead of a bounce-back performance, however, it has resulted in the 49ers quarterback being carted off the field with a leg injury, as the team confirmed.

Lance will be out for the remainder of the game, per a club announcement. He had an air cast on his right leg before being taken of the field to the locker room. As a result of the injury, Jimmy Garoppolo has taken over behind center for San Francisco.

Lance spent the entire offseason knowing he would take over as the 49ers’ franchise signal-caller. The team traded up to select him third overall in the 2021 draft, so it came as little surprise that they turned their attention to the 22-year-old. Expectations were understandably high, but his limited action in college and as a rookie backing up Garoppolo led to plenty of question marks entering the campaign.

The North Dakota State product did little to quell doubts about his ability to operate as a high-end starter last week. In an upset loss to the Bears, Lance completed just 13-of-28 passes for 164 yards and an interception, adding 54 yards on 13 rushing attempts. Conditions played a major part in each teams’ offensive struggles, of course, but much was thought to be riding on Lance’s performance today against the Seahawks.

It was reported earlier this week that head coach Kyle Shanahan could turn to Garoppolo as early as the team’s next game against the Broncos in the event Lance struggled. Now, he has done so out of sheer necessity. Garoppolo was the source of trade speculation all summer long, but stayed in the Bay Area via a restructured contract. Depending on the length of Lance’s absence, the veteran could once again carry the load for an extended period.

In the immediate future, Garoppolo faces the task of guiding a 49ers offense which, for the second straight contest, does not include All-Pro tight end George Kittle against the Seahawks. Seattle pulled off an upset win over Denver last week, but San Francisco currently leads 13-0. Big-picture implications loom large for the team at the QB position, however.

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