If you already bet the San Francisco 49ers to win Super Bowl LVII at +1600 odds you should sleep easier tonight in the knowledge that Jimmy Garoppolo will still be in the house come September 11.
The shock news that Garoppolo WILL NOT BE TRADED YET and will instead stay with the team as backup to the next big thing Trey Lance is a masterstroke by the Niners brass. Pretty smart from Garoppolo too.
Jimmy Garoppolo contract
It seemed inevitable that Jimmy G would be exiting the Bay Area following that NFC title game loss to the Rams in January. But a wild trade market for QBs and offseason shoulder surgery for Garoppolo complicated matters.
Now, after failing to find a new home, the QB is returning to the Niners for another season on a restructured contract which works for both him and the team:
- It reduces Garoppolo’s salary cap hit from just under $27million to around $8million
- It pays Garoppolo $6.5million guaranteed if he doesn’t take a single snap in 2022
- It pays up to $16million with incentives if he is called to action in the coming months
Garoppolo might not be the golden arm to take a good team over the top, but he’s proven himself a very adequate game manager and game winner. A guy who will do what the coach asks him to.
Jimmy had the Niners ahead in the second half of a Super Bowl and the second half of an NFC title game in the past three seasons, he is far from awful. San Francisco just hopes Lance has that X factor to make a very strong roster into world champions.
Now San Francisco has the best of both worlds. It is able to start Lance in the knowledge that should he go down, or not be the real deal, it has a very able deputy ready to step in.
The 49ers start their 2022 season on September with a trip to Chicago to face the Bears. They are a seven-point favorite to kick off the year with a win, and it should be a great year.