Last February, Jimmy Garoppolo got emotional while bidding a farewell to the 49ers Faithful.
“It’s been a hell of a ride,” he said.
At that point, we thought he was out the door before an inevitable offseason trade. About that. The ride just got a hell of a lot wilder. Nearly seven months later, and he’s back.
On Monday, the 49ers reportedly agreed to bring back Jimmy G on a restructured one-year deal to be a handsomely-paid backup behind second-year signal-caller Trey Lance. According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, Garoppolo is scheduled to make $6.5 million this season with the potential to earn nearly $10 million more as a starter.
The move comes a day before Tuesday’s 1 p.m. PT 53-man roster cut deadline, when Garoppolo’s $24.2 million base salary would have guaranteed. Sure, he's been in the system for six years, but there’s only 13 days before Week 1. The 49ers made the logical move given the current situation, but I think they could have played their hand better.
At this juncture, Garoppolo makes sense as a quality backup, but he hasn’t been taking part in team practices throughout all of training camp, nor going to team meetings. He has been spotted throwing on the side during 49ers practices and Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch were eager to give glowing reports to the media to relay to the masses (and hopefully some NFL franchises), but no one bit at Jimmy G and his massive contract in the trade market.
Hindsight is always 20-20, but their best move would have been to cut Garoppolo at the start of the league year on March 16. San Francisco would have been on the hook for a $7.5 million injury guarantee, but would have had more money in free agency to re-tool the offensive line and perhaps make a run at retaining reliable left guard Laken Tomlinson, who only missed one game the past five seasons. Tomlinson signed a 3-year, $40 million deal with the Jets, while the top centers signed for average annual values of $5.25 million to $7 million.
Every time Lance gets sacked this season, just look over at Jimmy G holding the clipboard. That’s where the money went.
It’s only the preseason, but last week’s exhibition against the Houston Texans revealed that the 49ers have a lot of work to do on the offensive line. We don’t have to worry about All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams, but every other spot is a question mark. Right tackle Mike McGlinchey returned to practice Monday after injuring his knee in the preseason opener but even he isn't a sure thing. Unproven Jake Brendel is the penciled-in starting center, while Daniel Brunskill tries to recover from a quad injury. Rookies Spencer Burford, Jason Poe (undrafted) and second-year player Aaron Banks are all in the mix for the starting guard gigs. It could be a long season for Lance behind this o-line unless those young guys step up.
After Garoppolo injured his shoulder in the Wild Card round against the Dallas Cowboys, he tried to rehab his arm, but ultimately elected to undergo surgery on March 8. As such, Garoppolo’s trade value was diminished while he recovered. The rest of the league went through a flurry of changes under center as quarterbacks like Russell Wilson, Deshaun Watson, Matt Ryan, Baker Mayfield, Mitch Trubisky, Marcus Mariota and Drew Lock changed jerseys this season while Garoppolo was sidelined and unable to be traded.
By the time Jimmy G was cleared to practice in July, there were no suitors remaining, despite Shanahan and Lynch’s proclamations that he was “throwing the heck” out of the ball, etc. Garoppolo and his agent Don Yee had permission to seek a trade, but nothing materialized.
In the end, the 49ers probably shot themselves in the foot by overvaluing Garoppolo, who has gone 35-16 in the regular season and playoffs but isn’t widely viewed as a top-tier quarterback. His whale of a contract and surgically-repaired shoulder didn’t hurt.
Now Jimmy G and the 49ers are behind the eight ball, as he missed a full training camp’s worth of playbook installation and reps. He’s better than Nate Sudfeld or Brock Purdy, but again, what a weird turn to this whole situation.
Garoppolo and Lance professionals and worked through an awkward season last year. They’ve both said nothing but good things about each other. But there will have to be an undoubted awkwardness to this season again, as Garoppolo is waiting for Lance to falter. They’ll be sharing the QB room and he’ll be taking reps with the No. 2s. Jimmy G won’t be far.
There is no quarterback controversy right now in Santa Clara. Lance is the guy and Garoppolo is way behind on his season prep. What about later in the season, though?
Shanahan and Lynch are high on this year’s roster – so what if Lance struggles and the team loses five in a row? Do they go back to Jimmy and start up a QB controversy again? Do they ride out Lance until the wheels fall off and let him take his lumps?
The 49ers have survived worse – the Joe Montana/Steve Young saga played out over six seasons – but Garoppolo’s mere presence will be an elephant on the roster for the rest of the year.
