What options remain for 49ers and Garoppolo as training camp nears?
Predicting Jimmy Garoppolo's 2022 huddle has been a process of elimination this offseason.
And the 49ers haven't been eliminated. Yet.
Will there be a surprise welcome-home party?
Will he, after exhaustive market analysis, find a reasonable suitor via trade?
Will the 49ers cut him, five months after reaching a second NFC Championship Game in three seasons?
Almost all signs point to Trey Lance taking over after a pseudo-redshirt rookie year. An offramp eventually will surface for Garoppolo, whose farewell message in January was: “It's been a hell of a ride, guys.” But, yet, he remains with the 49ers.
Let's handicap a scenario, knowing things could get answered before training camp opens July 26 or perhaps even drag into a regular season that begins Sept. 11 in Garoppolo's hometown of Chicago:
Injury list options
If Garoppolo reports with his adoring teammates for camp, this conceivably goes two ways. One, he's stashed on an injury list to keep him off the practice field for days, perhaps weeks, perhaps so the 49ers can wait for his trade market to reignite. Or, two, he's cleared for a QB competition, one that still won't rival the Montana-Young heat amid a dynasty but still will generate massive attention.
Garoppolo is eligible to open camp on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list. He was excused from the 49ers' offseason program and minicamp to continue rehabilitation in Los Angeles from March 8 surgery on his throwing shoulder. He hurt that wing in the playoff-opening win at Dallas (a shoulder he also hurt in 2016).
When Garoppolo returned from knee reconstruction in 2019, he did not open camp on the PUP list, and instead was full-go from the outset all the way to Super Bowl LIV. Heck, if he goes on PUP now and doesn't come off it all season, the last year of his contract tolls into 2023, according to the collective bargaining agreement.
When Colin Kaepernick came off shoulder surgery for 2016 camp, 49ers doctors cleared him, only to see him develop arm tightness after two weeks. He rested two preseason games and didn't reclaim his starting role until Week 6 of his final season.
Kyle Shanahan said in June that Garoppolo's right thumb injury (in December at Tennessee) didn't require surgery. Mind you, he only began throwing two to three weeks ago, The Athletic reported. If the thumb or shoulder flares up, well, then more injury-list time could keep Garoppolo shelved. By the way, being on the PUP list to start the season would eliminate him from playing the first six games, and his $24 million salary would still be in effect.