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It is now May, and Jimmy Garoppolo is yet to find a team for the 2022 NFL season. Of course, he's still on the 49ers roster, but with Trey Lance now entering his second season in the NFL, many think Garoppolo's era is over. One NFL analyst listed two landing spots for the quarterback.
Speaking on Chris Simms Unbuttoned, show host Chris Simms listed the New Orleans Saints and the Houston Texans as two potential destinations.
Simms said:
"I don't think there's gonna be, when all said and done, a huge market for Jimmy G right now. I mean, as we've discussed here, all teams [have] basically got their seats filled at quarterback. Yeah, except for the Panthers and the Seahawks. And then there's two other teams out there that are like maybes."
He continued, saying that the quarterback could replace Davis Mills or help in New Orleans:
"I'll go [with] the Houston Texans. Davis Mills, Jimmy Garoppolo became available. Maybe I could see them going, 'Okay. We'll do that. We'll see if we can help our team and maybe he can be the future something there.' Even the New Orleans Saints. I think they're a team that's ready if they can get Jimmy Garoppolo for nothing. I do think he fits that Sean Payton style of offense."
Simms went on, saying there's nothing better to hope for than Texas or Louisiana:
"They're running down there and I think he's more of an intermediate accurate, better ball-thrower than Jameis Winston is. So that could be the two spots. But I think when you look at it, that's, that's all there is to it. And I think it's more trouble than it's worth right now for the 49ers."
Either way, if it was up to Simms, he would cut ties immediately and start a new era, even if the team did not get a large amount of compensation:
"I don't think you're gonna get a lot of assets for Jimmy G at this point. And coming off the shoulder surgery like we talked about, plus the $25 million contract that goes along with him. If you trade him, like to me, there's just, there's no chance there's no chance. And I would rather cut the cord and just start a new era than have to deal with all these what-ifs.“
The Jimmy Garoppolo era
From 2013 to 2017, most saw the San Francisco 49ers as one of the worst teams in the NFL. After the Colin Kaepernick-Jim Harbaugh era flamed out, the team fell into quarterback and coach purgatory. However, they began to round a corner with the addition of head coach Kyle Shanahan.
Only a handful of games into his new tenure, the 49ers acquired Jimmy Garoppolo from a trade with the New England Patriots, where the quarterback was an up-and-coming backup to Tom Brady.
Garoppolo quickly elevated the team's hopes after coming in to lead a five-game win streak to close out the year, according to Pro Football Reference.
However, the 49ers' hopes were dashed the following year as he missed nearly the entire season due to injury. The injury was the beginning of what would become Garoppolo's biggest weakness in the NFL: availability. The quarterback has missed a significant amount of time due to injury despite taking the team to a Super Bowl and an NFC championship game when healthy.
Most thought this was the reason behind the decision to draft Trey Lance in the 2021 NFL Draft. However, the young quarterback has yet to supplant the veteran quarterback. Will Garoppolo remain the starter in 2022?
