Jimmy Garoppolo was out, until he was in. And now he could be sticking around.
Via Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, the “scenario” of Garoppolo remaining with the 49ers isn’t “off the table.”
It also isn’t “off the table” that this isn’t really news. With six regular-season games left and a playoff run likely, the possibility of the team and the player deciding to continue the relationship next year can’t be ruled out at this point.
One thing is clear. The 49ers won’t be able to keep Garoppolo from going to a new team, if he wants to do so. There’s a no-tag (franchise or transition) provision in his revised contract. He could be offered more money and more job security with a new team.
The 49ers also could decide to turn the page (finally) to Trey Lance. Or, after saying “no” to Tom Brady in 2020 and perhaps flirting with him a little bit in 2022, they could decide to bring the 46er to the 49ers for a year, with Lance taking over in 2024.
Rapoport claims that “Garoppolo should be one of the most coveted free-agent QBs this offseason, set to cash in again.” If he truly is (and, frankly, that’s debatable at this point), it presumably would take something more than a one-year commitment to keep him in San Francisco. It quite possibly would require the kind of contract that would represent a concession by the 49ers that they effed up the decision to move up to get Lance in the 2021 draft.
