The duration of jimmy Garoppolo’s free agency is limited. Although the former 49ers and Raiders starter will serve a two-game PED suspension, he will arrive in a well-liked position.
The Rams are signing the veteran to back up Matthew Stafford, per the NFL Network’s Peter Schrager and Mike Garafolo. Garoppolo closed last season as a backup but has extensive experience as a starter. Coming from the Kyle Shanahan offense will certainly help Garoppolo here as well. The 32-year-old passer agreed to a one-year deal.
By mid-September of the past six years, Garoppolo has been viewed as a starter. He signed a three-year, $72.75M deal to rejoin Josh McDaniels, but the 10-year QB’s stock has nosedived since. Missing two games due to injury early in the season, Garoppolo wound up on the bench once the Raiders fired McDaniels. He served as Aidan O’Connell‘s backup during the season’s second half but incurred the PED ban early this offseason, giving the Raiders a way to avoid paying out the QB’s 2024 guarantees. Garoppolo became a post-June 1 cut earlier this week.
Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay use schemes derived from the Mike Shanahan-Gary Kubiak system, as both were on Mike Shanahan’s Washington staff in the 2010s. Tweaks have naturally occurred, but this stands to be an easier transition compared to Garoppolo landing in an entirely new offense. He appears all set to replace Carson Wentz as Stafford’s caddy.
The Rams turned to Wentz after a rough Brett Rypien start in Green Bay. Stafford missed much of the 2022 season due to injury but was only down for one game last year — a bounce-back slate for the cannon-armed starter. Wentz, who remained in free agency until November last year, is back in free agency.
Garoppolo’s return to McDaniels’ system did not go well; he managed nine interceptions in six starts as Davante Adams fumed. Garoppolo was certainly much better under Shanahan, averaging 8.3 yards per attempt and guiding the team to two NFC Championship Games and Super Bowl LIV. QBR placed Garoppolo 16th in 2022 — prior to his broken foot introducing the NFL to Brock Purdy — and slotted him in 13th and 12th, respectively, in 2021 and 2019. This will be an interesting switch for Garoppolo, who faced the Rams many times as the 49ers’ starter. Garoppolo went 8-0 against Los Angeles in the regular season, but McVay’s team reversed the trend in the ’21 NFC decider.
Following four years of utilizing John Wolford as his main backup, McVay added an intriguing phase to Baker Mayfield’s career. The former No. 1 selection concluded the 2022 season on a higher note thanks to the five-game Rams cameo, and McVay also chose to go with Wentz, a veteran. Garoppolo, who performed well when Trey Lance was injured early in the 2022 season, will follow this pattern. In light of Stafford’s string of ailments, which he has mostly endured, Garoppolo is expected to be a key player in Los Angeles.
Garopolo is heading to rans