The San Francisco 49ers’ brass has been clear about the status of impending free agent Jimmy Garoppolo. The quarterback will not be back in San Francisco next season.
Even then, there has to be some feeling of déjà vu here. It was at about this point last offseason that Garoppolo was as good as done with the 49ers. They had already announced that Trey Lance would be the starter in 2022 and were looking to find a trade partner for the veteran.
Garoppolo’s shoulder surgery complicated things, leading to a watered-down market. He eventually returned to the 49ers on a restructured deal and took over for an injured Lance in Week 2 before suffering a season-ending injury himself.
Fast forward a few months, and the 49ers’ brass is now reiterating that Garoppolo’s days in Northern California are over.
“We admire the teammate that he was. I do think it’s probably run its course,” San Francisco 49ers GM John Lynch to reporters on Tuesday.
This shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. It’s long been believed that Garoppolo would depart the 49ers in free agency. As part of his restructure this past summer, the veteran received a clause that disabled San Francisco’s ability to place the franchise tag on him.
As of right now, Garoppolo is seen as the second-best quarterback in NFL free agency behind Derek Carr. There’s also an argument that his track record is much more indicative of future success than what we saw with Carr and his former Raiders team. But that’s an argument for another day.
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San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback situation without Jimmy Garoppolo
Now that San Francisco has confirmed that Garoppolo is all but gone, attention in Northern California turns to injured holdovers Trey Lance and Brock Purdy.
The No. 3 overall pick back in 2021, Lance suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Week 2 of the 2022 campaign. He’s on track to be ready for organized team activities this spring. Though, there’s internal concerns in San Francisco that Lance isn’t capable of holding down QB1 duties for a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
The same thing can’t be said about 2022 seventh-round pick Brock Purdy. Mr. Irrelevant suffered an elbow injury in San Francisco loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game. After an historic start to his career, Purdy has been debating on how to proceed with surgery on the elbow.
Lynch noted at the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday that the hope is Purdy will be able to undergo surgery next week. He had put it off with swelling in the elbow being an issue. The hope is that Purdy will be ready for Week 1.
This is all a long-form way of saying that San Francisco will likely be in the market for a veteran quarterback once NFL free agency opens in March. There’s several backup options set to hit the open market. That list includes recently released veterans such as Carson Wentz and Marcus Mariota.