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49ers Rumors: Jimmy Garoppolo Won't Attend SF Program to Rehab Injury amid Trade Buzz
April 19, 2022
Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo reportedly will not attend the San Francisco 49ers' offseason conditioning program when it begins Tuesday.
According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, Garoppolo and the Niners are in agreement that he will continue to rehab his throwing shoulder away from the team.
Jimmy G underwent successful surgery on his shoulder in March, and the expectation at the time was that he would be back in plenty of time for training camp.
Garoppolo is among the top trade candidates remaining across the NFL since the assumption is the 49ers want to move forward with 2021 No. 3 overall draft pick Trey Lance as their starting quarterback.
While the expectation remains that Garoppolo will get moved at some point, it is likely that his shoulder injury has played a role in delaying a potential trade.
Additionally, many of the teams that had a need at quarterback already made a move, or they could opt to address it during the draft with the likes of Malik Willis, Kenny Pickett, Desmond Ridder and Matt Corral being among the signal-callers who could come off the board in the first round.
In March, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio reported that 49ers general manager John Lynch had told interested teams that they had an offer of two second-round picks on the table for Garoppolo.
That may have been nothing more than posturing on Lynch's part, though, since it seems likely that he would jump at such an offer, considering it only took one second-round pick to acquire Jimmy G from the New England Patriots in 2017.
Even if two second-round picks aren't realistic compensation for Garoppolo, there is likely still some interest in him on the trade market provided his rehab is going according to plan.
In two of the past three seasons, Garoppolo led the 49ers to at least the NFC Championship Game.
In 2019, he went 13-3 as a starter and took San Francisco all the way to the Super Bowl where his team fell to the Kansas City Chiefs. Then, Jimmy G and the Niners upset the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers en route to the NFC title game last season where they narrowly fell to the eventual Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams.
Given his playoff success and his career regular-season record of 33-14, it is fair to say that Garoppolo is a winner, and that could appeal to quarterback-needy teams.
At the same time, he has struggled to stay healthy throughout his NFL career. Aside from the ailment he is currently dealing with, he has only appeared in more than six games in a season twice in his eight-year career.
Part of that is because he spent his first few seasons as a backup to Tom Brady in New England, but three of his five seasons in San Francisco have seen him limited to six or fewer games, including 2020 when an ankle injury knocked him out for 10 contests.
Additionally, Garoppolo has never put up huge numbers during his career, and he is coming off a 2021 campaign in which he completed 68.3 percent of his passes for 3,810 yards with 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
A team like the Carolina Panthers could make a play for Jimmy G regardless since their best option right now is Sam Darnold, but the 49ers' front office may have to temper its expectations regarding what it can get in return given Garoppolo's injury history.