When Jimmy Garoppolo signed his contract making him the highest paid player in the NFL at the end of the 2017 season, it was after he had just led the 49ers to 5 straight wins to end the season. He only last a few weeks as the highest paid player, but the contract seemed to be a signal that he would be the 49ers’ franchise quarterback. The 49ers had their quarterback signed with an offensive mastermind in head coach Kyle Shanahan calling the plays; the team was looking like one of the teams to look for in the future.
Unfortunately that feeling only lasted 3 games last season. After having a poor game in the opener, but bouncing back in Week 2, Jimmy sustained his injury in Kansas City that ended his season. That also ended the 49ers hopes for a playoff push. He is now back on the field and the hopes for the 49ers rest on him. This season is a big year for Jimmy. If he can play well and play all 16 games, the 49ers can silence some of the doubts about their quarterback and his contract. If he doesn’t play well or can’t finish the season, the doubts about the big contract he got after only 5 games will get louder and the team will have to decide if they should move on from his contract.
The team has the option to get out of the contract by April 2020. They would have paid him about $60 million by that time, but they would only take a $4 million cap hit. It seems unlikely that they would move on from him since he had to miss a full year. With Kyle and GM John Lynch in their 3rd season, it seems like they would give him a couple more years to show he can lead this team.
49ers links
Earning his contract (Florio)
Pass rush should be better late in games this season (Maiocco)
Rookies can effect their Madden rankings (Madson)
NFL links
Zeke met with Commissioner Goodell (Bergman)
Top 25 QBs all time (Harrison)
Top defensive players (Schein)
Teams that have a chance at a SB (Orr)
CBA talks (Graziano)