Before San Francisco even selected Trey Lance with the No. 3 overall pick in last year’s NFL Draft, Jimmy Garoppolo’s tenure with the 49ers had an uncertain expiration date. That's what happens when you mortgage so much future draft capital -- three first-rounders and a third-round pick -- to move up nine spots in the draft.
Jimmy G's expiration date likely turned out to be Jan. 30, 2022. Technically, Garoppolo is still on the 49ers. But he’s also on the trading block after Sunday’s disappointing 20-17 loss to the Rams in the NFC Championship.
Jimmy G, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch have been candid about the quarterback situation, knowing that future belongs to Lance. Garoppolo admitted the emotions have been heavy in the final few weeks of the season and Sunday was no different.
“They hit pretty hard in the locker room,” Garoppolo said. “I think these next couple days it’ll really start to settle in a little bit. Emotions are high after a game, win or a loss. It’s one of those things, you gotta be glad it happened, smile from it and think about the good things. We’ll see what happens these next couple days, weeks, whatever. But I love this team.”
That sounds like a man who knows he’s out the door.
Garoppolo’s 49ers legacy is complicated. Not many quarterbacks take their teams to two conference championships and a Super Bowl in three seasons, but Jimmy G faltered in fourth-quarter crunch time Sunday with two hollow drives. He finished the game 16-of-30 for 232 yards, two touchdowns and a crucial, late interception.
Still, Garoppolo drew praise from All-Pro tackle Trent Williams for the way he handled the year and all the noise that came with it. For the past 10 months, Garoppolo’s every move has been dissected. Such is life when you’re the quarterback of the 49ers, who have such a rich history at the position.
“I think he handled the season amazingly,” Williams said. “Nobody wants to be in a position he was put in. You couldn’t tell. Jimmy’s a class act. He handled himself professionally everyday. I’m proud of him, man. He’s a brother for life.”
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Teammates have been voicing their support for Garoppolo throughout the playoffs. Despite all the ugly stat lines and outside haters, Jimmy G had a golden reputation as the golden boy within the team HQ walls in Santa Clara.
If this is it for Garoppolo, he finished with a 35-16 (.686 win percentage) including a 4-2 mark in the playoffs for San Francisco over five seasons. His 31 regular-season wins are seventh-most in franchise history, ahead of Colin Kaepernick (28) and behind Jeff Garcia (35). The last three victories were all epic road wins, but the futile final two drives Sunday will likely haunt him for the rest of his career.
Nonetheless, Garoppolo signed off his press conference Sunday with a final, resounding message.
“I got no regrets for this year,” Garoppolo said.
