Jimmy Garoppolo's Actions In 2018 Hints At Real Feelings Towards 49ers

KEY POINTS

The ghosting story of Jimmy Garoppolo in 2018 hints that things were not that smooth in San Francisco
Trey Lance was always believed to be Garoppolo's apparent successor
Most NFL teams want to see if Garoppolo has fully recovered from injury

Jimmy Garoppolo is sitting on pins and needles right now with his NFL future uncertain.

While it appears the 30-year-old quarterback is expected to leave the 49ers at some point, past stories of his stay in San Francisco have cropped up.

One of them had to do with his contract signing back in 2018.

Garoppolo had just appeared in a press conference to officially announce his five-year $137.5 million contract extension with the Niners.

At the time, the move was a bit shady considering the two-time Super Bowl champion had started in just seven NFL games.

In a story by the San Francisco Chronicle, Garoppolo would then shut everyone out and ghosted the 49ers.

"Once he left that press conference, nobody heard from him for weeks and weeks," an unnamed member of the Niners' coaching staff claimed. "He didn't return calls, he didn't return texts—he basically just vanished. And we were looking at each other going, 'What just happened?'"

That incident was eventually forgotten with Garoppolo buckling down to work.

He helped San Francisco make the playoffs twice, one that included a Super Bowl appearance in 2020.

Aside from that, there was also an NFC Championship loss to the Los Angeles Rams back in January.

While it cannot be denied that Garoppolo helped Kyle Shanahan and the Niners in the past years of his tenure, there were also the absences in some games that are well documented.

He had his share of inconsistency and went through several injuries.

In all, it was clear that Garoppolo was not a long-term fix. Hence, such backs up the reason why the Niners traded up in the NFL Draft and eventually nabbed Trey Lance in 2021.

Selecting him at No. 3, it was always believed that Lance would inherit the starting quarterback position and lead the Niners to a whole new era of NFL football.

He was given a year to learn the ropes, and the time of reckoning is seemingly at hand.

The Trey Lance era is expected to commence this 2022-23 NFL season with Garoppolo seen as his backup.

With the tables turned, it will be interesting how Garoppolo's plight will be.

Most see him getting traded to another team. But considering he is coming from offseason shoulder surgery, most squads will first want to see if he has fully recuperated from his medical procedure.