The San Francisco 49ers are completing the process of moving on from Jimmy Garoppolo, giving the quarterback permission to seek a trade from the franchise. CBS Sports NFL Insider Jonathan Jones reports Garoppolo’s agents have permission to seek a trade, but pointed out that teams are unwilling to seriously consider any trade until his shoulder heals.
In an ESPN report, Garoppolo has been cleared to start practicing for the 49ers — who report to training camp Tuesday. Garoppolo’s contract counts $26.95 million against the salary cap and the 49ers can trade him to any team of their choosing (Garoppolo did have a no-trade clause in his deal last season).
If any team trades for Garoppolo, they will take on his non-guaranteed salary for 2022 and will be free to work out an extension with Garoppolo to soften the cap hit. One team reported as a potential suitor for Garoppolo is the Seattle Seahawks, who don’t have the cap room to take on Garoppolo’s current contract (as noted by CBS Sports’ Joel Corry). The Cleveland Browns are the only team in position to absorb Garoppolo’s full salary (per Corry) as they have $49 million in cap space. Cleveland is still waiting on the verdict of a Deshaun Watson suspension, which is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
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With the 49ers giving Garoppolo permission to look elsewhere for a new home in 2022, the team has all but confirmed Trey Lance will be the starting quarterback this season. Serving as the backup to Garoppolo in his rookie season, Lance completed 41 of 71 passes (57.7%) for 603 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions, while rushing 38 times for 168 yards and a touchdown.
In Lance’s last full season (2019), he completed 66.9% of his passes for 2,786 yards and 28 touchdowns to zero interceptions in his redshirt freshman campaign for North Dakota State, leading the Bison to a national championship. He also recorded 1,100 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns — averaging 6.5 yards per carry. This helped prompt the 49ers to trade up to take him No. 3 overall in 2021.
Garoppolo completed 68.3% of his passes for 3,810 yards with 20 touchdowns to 12 interceptions last season, recording a 98.7 passer rating and leading the league in yards per completion (12.7). He was second in the league in completion rate (71.1%) since Week 10 and fourth in passer rating (103.6) in that same stretch. His 8.64 yards per attempt were second in the NFL.
Garoppolo’s .702 win percentage is behind only Patrick Mahomes (.794), Tom Brady (.769), and Lamar Jackson (.755) for best among active quarterbacks. Garoppolo trails only Mahomes for best winning percentage on the road in league history.
