Jimmy Garroppolo is committing offense again in San Francisco after sophomore quarterback Trey Lance was terrible ankle injury on Sunday, similar to that of Dak Prescott in 2020, during the Niners’ 27-7 win over the Seattle Seahawks. He was taken off at the end of the first half as the Niners made it 3-0.
Lance will miss the rest of the season, which would cost him another year of his NFL career. He underwent surgery on Monday morning, and according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the injury isn’t quite as bad as Prescott’s from a few years ago. However, he will still miss the rest of the 2022 campaign.
During the season, the hottest team on the west coast, where drama is concerned, were these 49. If not the controversy with Lance and Garoppolo, it is the talk of Deebo Samuel’s contract extension and his potential commercial value alongside Jimmy. Neither person was transacted, one received the extension he requested, and the other restructured his transaction.
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In his first game back on the field, Jimmy G has already hit one of the clauses in his restructured contract. For each game that Garoppolo plays more than 25 percent of San Francisco’s offensive snaps, he earns a $250k bonus. If the team also wins that game, it nets Garoppolo another $100k for a total of $350k.
That’s not a bad deal for Garoppolo, since his position with the team had been in question going back to the end of last season. Although most felt Garoppolo was still the best option the Niners had in their QB room, others (including Kyle Shanahan) felt the team needed to see what Lance has and how much he’s improved from five rookies to the present. While things progressed slowly, the Niners now have to go another year without knowing exactly what they have in Lance.
With Jimmy G returning to take on the undisputed starting QB role in San Francisco, the team’s chance to perform once again in NFC improve a bit. 49ers Super Bowl win rate increased from +2000 to +1800 at Transcript. Garoppolo was able to help lead the Niners to last season’s NFC Championship game, which they were close to winning.
For Lance, it felt like a normal period himself, and the offense is still being worked out. With Jimmy G, there’s a familiarity as they’ve been in two of the last three NFC title games with Garoppolo topping out with a Super Bowl appearance. The Niners are on track to win their sixth Super Bowl, taking a 20-10 lead as they head into the fourth quarter. Then, the 49ers collapsed and gave up 21 unanswered points to Patrick Mahomes and the captains, losing Super Bowl LIV, 31-20.
There have been rumors of Garoppolo potentially being brought back into the roster, but it came much quicker than anyone imagined. The 49ers will likely be on the favorites of many analysts to compete for the NFC crown. Soon, we’ll be hearing all the talk about “genius” Kyle Shanahan starting again, this time for the visionary Jimmy G. Not much of a exchange though. market for Garoppolo in the off-season, but don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story.
The fact of the matter is that Garoppolo is a good QB, not a good one, and we saw him over the top in San Francisco. They have to be good enough to challenge for the NFC West title and make it to the knockout stages once again. Regardless, Jimmy G is who he has always been. As long as no one else falls out and the front line of attack defends Garoppolo, the Niners will contest in ’22.
You don’t want to see this scenario happen to any player, especially a young player like Lance. He played catch-up because he didn’t play college football much and barely played last season. Now fans and the whole team have to wait another year to see what this kid can do in an entire season.
Don’t forget that Garoppolo is a free agent after the ’22 season. Unless something changes, Lance will be the man again when he comes back, no one will look at him.
