Why Jimmy Garoppolo Will Request the 49ers to Release him
Releasing Jimmy Garoppolo has one hurdle to overcome for the 49ers.
Passing a physical is what is required of Garoppolo, or else the 49ers will be on the hook with his injury guarantee at $7.5 million. They would still relieve themselves of ample salary cap space by letting Garoppolo go now, but why stay on the hook for some of his salary when they can just wait?
Besides, waiting also benefits the 49ers in trading Garoppolo. There currently isn't a market for him, but one could (I doubt it) arise in the coming weeks. Training camp is slated to start in just about two weeks from now, which I would expect Garoppolo to pass his physical around that time. Once he does, Garoppolo will have two options in front of him. One is to await for the 49ers to barter a trade with another team, which is a longshot. The other is to request his release, which is what he'll elect to do.
Here is why Garoppolo will request the 49ers to release him.
A trade is not suddenly going to magically appear. The Browns are his best bet and even that is a stretch. Garoppolo cannot let 2022 go to waste. He needs to play this season to up his value for 2023. That means he needs to find a new team as soon as possible following a green light on his physical. But that doesn't mean the 49ers are obligated to help him with that.
The Niners can hold onto Garoppolo for the majority of training camp and then cut him. If you're Garoppolo, it makes no sense to waste away for a month or so for a trade to materialize when you can demand a release to find a team on your own. Garoppolo becomes a much more attractive player to sign as a free agent -- not as a trade commodity.
Requesting a release is the only way the 49ers will let him go without a trade partner. San Francisco has maintained the same stance since February that they will not cut Garoppolo for nothing, even though it is not nothing since they'll salvage more than $24 million in cap space. It would look foolish on their end, image wise, to outright release Garoppolo on their own after being headstrong for the whole year.
Only until Garoppolo demands/requests it, assuming no trade is on the rise, then they will be able to let him go. That way the 49ers are protected from being on the hook with his salary since he passed a physical and they can use the release under the guise of being "player first." Time has already been wasted for Garoppolo due to his shoulder surgery. He can't let another precious month pass him by. The next two months are where players really develop, embed themselves in the playbook and build rapport with each other. These three factors are critical for Garoppolo to build up his value this year.
Otherwise, he is bound to be a backup this year exclusively.
