The 49ers’ relationship with Jimmy Garoppolo ended well before he left in free agency this offseason.
San Francisco ead coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch viewed Garoppolo as an “ex-49er” during their playoff run that ended in an NFC Championship Game loss to the Eagles last season, per the Athletic.
The two decided that even if Garoppolo – who was injured leading into the playoffs – had been cleared to play in a potential Super Bowl LVII, they would have gone a different route, including possibly turning to retired quarterback Philip Rivers, according to the report.
“Shanahan and Lynch were not playing Garoppolo again. In their minds, he was an ex-49er already,” wrote The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami. “I’ve heard that the 49ers believe Garoppolo had tuned them out almost totally during the playoffs. They didn’t want Garoppolo anymore.”
The fraying in the relationship between the 49ers and Garoppolo, now the Raiders’ starting quarterback, is not surprising considering how the past three seasons unfolded.
Garoppolo led the 49ers to Super Bowl LIV in 2020 but missed a potential game-winning touchdown throw to Emmanuel Sanders in the fourth quarter.
The following season started with a stunning home loss to the Cardinals and Garoppolo suffered an ankle sprain that limited him to just six games, and he was even benched during a game.
Perhaps the most-crushing blow in the relationship came when the 49ers traded up to select Trey Lance with the third pick overall in the 2021 NFL Draft.
While that pick hasn’t worked out, it paved the way for Garoppolo’s exit. He led the 49ers to the NFC Championship Game in 2022, but the team opened with Lance as the starter last year.
Lance’s season ended with an injury in Week 2 and Garoppolo started 10 games before suffering a foot injury in Week 13 against the Dolphins. That injury opened the door for seventh-round pick Brock Purdy, who Wally Pipp’d both Lance and Garoppolo and is set to start for the 49ers this year.
Purdy suffered an elbow injury in the NFC Championship Game that would have prevented him from playing in the Super Bowl had the 49ers won, and the report states the 49ers would have rather turned to a retired quarterback than trust Garoppolo in another Super Bowl.
Kawakami reported the 49ers hoped Garoppolo would return for the playoffs and were “vastly disappointed” when he did not, and there was spotty communication at best.
The 49ers and Raiders do not meet in the regular season, but recently held joint practices and clashed in their preseason openers.
“Eventually, the whole thing finally exhausted both men,” Kawakami wrote. “They were more than tired of each other. They were done with each other. It’s not surprising that there were no Shanahan/Garoppolo hugs and chats at Raiders’ HQ or Allegiant Stadium last week. It was never buddy-buddy. It got testy at the end. There were annoyances in the middle, too.
“But I think they got the best out of each other for those five years, I really do.”
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