San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo will go under the knife to repair his UCL thumb injury that may lead to his trade. While Garoppolo is preparing for the offseason surgery, the Niners are still considering the options and situation of whether Garoppolo should be traded to another team.
UCSF Director of Sports Medicine Dr. Nirav Pandya posted on his social media that UCL surgery will usually take “five to six weeks”. Moreover, Dr. Pandya stated according to statistics that players typically are not impacted by post-surgery effects.
Garoppolo’s career fate
While he has won games, Jimmy G has been average, with the writing on the wall stating his time in San Francisco is maybe at an end. “The likelihood is that Jimmy Garoppolo has played his last down with the San Francisco 49ers and this is the best-case scenario for everyone,” NFL Insider Ian Rapoport reported.
After ending the season with wins in his five starts, the 49ers bestowed a five-year contract on Garoppolo back in March 2018, making him the league’s highest-earning player. However, the quarterback did not see that his play was coming to an end when he injured his thumb.
SF decided to punt to LAR from the LAR 40 on 4th & 6 with 3:28 remaining in the 1st while tied 0 to 0.
With a Surrender Index of 19.27, this punt ranks at the 98th percentile of cowardly punts of the 2021 season, and the 96th percentile of all punts since 1999.
— Surrender Index 90 (@surrender_idx90) January 31, 2022
Garoppolo played his final game in San Francisco, where he is expected to face the Rams on Sunday in the NFC Championship Game. During that game, the 30-year-old faced an emotional Sunday in the aftermath of the 20-17 loss to the Rams where he has to face the uncertainty of his future.
“I think these next couple of days, it will really start to settle in a little bit,” Garoppolo said. “Emotions are high after a game, a win, or a loss. It’s just one of those things you got to be glad it happened.”
Finally, the consideration of the 49ers led to the decision that Garoppolo will be moved on and replaced with Trey Lance, NFL Draft last year as the starting quarterback in the 2022 season. On Monday, it was announced that San Francisco offered their appreciation for the opportunity to play with Garoppolo in 2021.
Team support
“What a fun ride, I (told him)(Garoppolo) ‘I really appreciate you and all of the work you’ve done,’” said center Alex Mack on Monday. “‘Great to be your teammate and I just appreciate you and that’s pretty much where we’ve left it because no one really knows what the future holds.”
According to Rapoport, although Garoppolo would be traded, several teams have already expressed their interest in seeking Garoppolo to join their team in the future while waiting for Garoppolo’s full recovery from surgery. Whatever happens this offseason, it is likely not to be a surprise anymore to Garoppolo. Coach Kyle Shanahan said last week that transparency about the team’s intentions made it possible for all sides to deal with a potentially difficult situation.
“That is the reality of where we’re at. It’s been that way for a while since we made that trade and the more that we all can accept it and know it and not beat around the bush, the easier it is to go on with your jobs,” Shanahan said.