The Likeliest Scenario for Jimmy Garoppolo in 2022

Jimmy Garoppolo is right on schedule to start throwing again.

The hope from the 49ers is that once he can sustain it for a while that his trade market will suddenly emerge come training camp. However, the likelihood of that is low. Barring a drastic injury to a starting quarterback around the league, Garoppolo is going to end up being cut by the 49ers. That is his best chance to be in a position where teams will find interest in him, but even that will be a stretch.

A lot of scenarios can play out for Garoppolo in 2022, but there is one that is the likeliest of them all.

Garoppolo will start out Week 1 of the regular season as a free agent. His chance of being a starter this year has evaporated. It was over from the very moment Colts traded for Matt Ryan as they were essentially the last team in need of a quarterback. Matt Maiocco said the same thing to KNBR earlier this week about Garoppolo and, to be quite frank, it should’ve been expected.

The 49ers think the world of Garoppolo. It's why they thought, and possibly still think, that they could've reeled in adequate draft capital for Garoppolo in a trade. Their thoughts is that he is worth some hefty capital, but in the eyes of the rest of the league he’s just an average player who gets uplifted by his head coach and star talent around him. A quarterback is supposed to be the uplifting force for players around him — not the other way around.

And the fact that he is going to barely start throwing in July makes him more of a concern. How long will he be able to keep that up? Not to mention that a team will need to help expedite his retention of the playbook or end up dwindling it down so they can run an offense feasible for him. Then there is the aspect of building rapport with the skill players and that is just not enough time for him to get down should he join a team in August.

Garoppolo is bound for a backup role and it is his only choice. In fact, it’s his best choice. The market is speaking for itself. He’s not a starting caliber player in the eyes of the league. His best and only option is take a backseat this year. Plenty of quarterbacks have done that and gotten back to being a starter again: Andy Dalton, Marcus Mariota and maybe Mitchell Trubisky this year.

Unless a starter gets injured, which is a rare occurrence, Garoppolo is going to be stuck as a free agent and end up being a backup.