The San Francisco 49ers are thrilled that things worked out so that they were able to keep veteran quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, especially considering that the team was actively trying to trade him this offseason.
Following the season-ending injury to Trey Lance, the Niners are now relying on Garoppolo to step back into the starting role and bring the 49ers to a successful season that they hope will lead them to the playoffs and a shot at the Super Bowl.
However, during the summer of shopping Garoppolo, the 49ers believed that the Washington Commanders would be the team that would pull the trigger on a deal to acquire the veteran signal caller, according to ESPN’s Tim Keown and Nick Wagoner.
Washington was certainly scouring the market for a quarterback, with the team even offering numerous 1st round draft picks to the Seattle Seahawks for Russell Wilson prior to their deal to trade him to the Denver Broncos.
According to The Athletic’s Jeff Howe, teams expressed concerns regarding Garoppolo’s timetable as he would address shoulder surgery, and his willingness to accept a potential pay cut.
Additionally, it appears that the Cleveland Browns were to be interested in Garoppolo in a free agent deal, given the suspension of starter Deshaun Watson, but ultimately the Niners agreed to move forward with Garoppolo and the Browns moved forward with Jacoby Brissett for the 11 games they would be without Watson.
Garoppolo is currently set for free agency in 2023.
