49ers’ farewell to Jimmy Garoppolo: This time it’s for real (we’re pretty sure)

Jimmy Garoppolo is finally hitting the NFL’s marketplace.

He could have done so a year ago. Instead, he accepted a pay cut on a restructured and reduced contract with a repaired throwing shoulder.

He could have fled in 2018. Instead, the 49ers kept him, at the cost of a then-record contract for a quarterback.

Upon signing that deal (five years, $137.5 million), Garoppolo said: “We have one goal in mind, and that’s to get to a Super Bowl and win it.”

Five years have come and gone. What a spectacle it was, complete with three trips to the playoffs, but nary a Super Bowl win to show for what also was an injury-strewn tenure.

So, Garoppolo officially becomes a free agent Wednesday for the first time in an NFL career that began in 2014 as a New England Patriots second-round draft pick. Monday marks the launch of free agency negotiations, and deals can’t be ratified until as early as 1 p.m. Wednesday.

“A lot of people want to talk about what we didn’t accomplish with him. What I know is we won a lot of football games with Jimmy,” general manager John Lynch said at the NFL scouting combine Feb. 28. “I admire, we admire his toughness, admire the teammate that he was.”

Sure, the 49ers still could use him, considering the unassured health of his younger successors, Brock Purdy and Trey Lance. But Garoppolo affirmed this exit strategy before last season, when he took a pay cut and made sure the 49ers could not place the franchise tag on him to restrict his potential freedom.

Where will the grass be greener for Jimmy G? He’ll surely seek a starting job, preferably one that comes with multiple years rather than repeat 2021 and serve as the place-holder for a high (or super low) draft choice. Logical destinations: the New York Jets, the Raiders, the Houston Texans, the Tampa Bay Bucs, and the Washington Commanders.

“We have a process we go through. Jimmy is obviously part of that process,” Bobby Slowik, the Texans’ offensive coordinator and former 49ers assistant, said Wednesday in comments that could violate the NFL’s tampering policy. “He’s going to be a free agent. We grind through that as a coaching staff. We grind through that in the personnel department. We have conversations.”

A Dec. 4 foot fracture effectively ended his 49ers career. It kept him from starting the ensuing eight games, the last of which was the NFC Championship Game loss. Garoppolo watched from the sideline as Philadelphia first injured Purdy’s throwing elbow then sent out Josh Johnson with a concussion in the 31-7 rout.

Unlike a year ago, there would be no Garoppolo press session to wrap up the season, to offer him a chance to again bid farewell, which he tried to do last January by telling reporters over a video conference: “It’s been a hell of a ride, guys. And love you guys. So, see ya.”

The 49ers saw arguably the best of Garoppolo this past season. Lance’s ankle fracture in the Sept. 18 home opener got Garoppolo his job back. It wasn’t a smooth transition initially – see: Garoppolo retreating through the end zone for a safety in an 11-10 loss at Denver in Week 3 – but he transformed himself and the 49ers.

Last year marked his most efficient since taking the 49ers’ reigns in December 2017. He registered a 103.0 passer rating with 16 touchdown passes and just four interceptions.

Remember that 10-game win streak that escorted the 49ers to the NFC title game? Garoppolo started the first half of it. His left foot broke as he valiantly tried to stay in field-goal position, and as two Miami Dolphins defenders dragged him down for a sack.

That injury was never ruled a season-ender, even if it ended up being one. The 49ers kept him off the injured reserve list, hoping he could recover in time for the conference finals or the Super Bowl. But he never returned to practice, and he only began running on the side 1½ weeks before the NFC Championship Game.

Three days after that season-ending loss, coach Kyle Shanahan rather coldly said he did not envision any scenario Garoppolo returns.

“I know everyone wants to talk about some discourse and all that,” Lynch said Feb. 28. “But I do believe that it’s probably run its course.”

Garoppolo’s 49ers’ legacy: getting injured, winning games (42 of 61), and blending in as one of the guys, at least in the locker room.

He maintained an astonishingly low profile off the field for someone as recognizable and beloved in the Bay Area. Of course, there was a dubious date he was set up on during the 2018 offseason with an adult film star.

“I’m under a microscope,” Garoppolo said upon reporting to 2018 training camp. “It’s like (Shanahan) said, ‘It is a good learning experience. Just have to take it in stride.’

“Life is very different now,” Garoppolo added. “My life, off the field, I’ve never really been big on being very public with things, even on social media. I’m not on there a ton, but my life’s looked at differently.”

The 49ers were mired in an 0-8 start when they agreed to acquire Garoppolo on Oct. 30, 2017, surrendering only a second-round pick to the New England Patriots for Tom Brady’s backup. A month later, Garoppolo took over, went 5-0 as their December starter.

Then came the injuries. The anterior cruciate ligament tear while scrambling into the red zone at Kansas City, three games into the 2018 season. The high ankle sprains in 2020. The calf bruise, the thumb fracture, and the shoulder capsule tear in 2021.

His only full season: 2019, when his ACL comeback featured all 20 starts, including one in the Super Bowl, where the 49ers blew a 10-point lead and Garoppolo overthrew Emmanuel Sanders deep as the Chiefs nabbed the Lombardi Trophy.

Rather than bring home San Mateo native Tom Brady, the 49ers stayed loyal in 2020 to Garoppolo, only to abandon that notion in the 2021 draft, when they traded up to the No. 3 slot and selected Lance. Still, Garoppolo made another run at a Super Bowl, coming up short by virtue of a 20-17 loss to the Rams in the NFC Championship Game after the 2021 season.

“The more Jimmy was here, the more comfortable he was, the better he played,” Shanahan said in February 2018. “I thought the guys around him played better. I thought our team got tighter.”

Yes, those words from five years ago held true. The 49ers remained a tight bunch and a playoff contender, and their Lombardi Trophy drought now spans 28 seasons.

“We leave with nothing but fond memories for Jimmy,” Lynch said Feb. 28. “And Jimmy is going to go play good football for someone.”