Exciting news about San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was revealed earlier this week, as the Athletic's Matt Barrows reported that the veteran quarterback resumed throwing around 2-3 weeks ago after undergoing surgery on his throwing shoulder in March.
Jimmy Garoppolo's been throwing for weeks; so what comes next for 49ers QB? ,,,https://t.co/dwzvUp2HbU
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) July 12, 2022
With the main hurdle being cleared for Garoppolo in his recovery process, the 49ers and their five-year starter may reach a resolution sooner rather than later, as teams will be able to see the quarterback's progress firsthand following his injury.
Reports have surfaced that the Seattle Seahawks have "done their homework" on Garoppolo, according to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, potentially setting up a trade in the near future, especially as teams prepare for training camp ahead of the 2022 NFL season.
However, the Seahawks currently have around $15 million in available cap space, meaning they're currently unable to take on Garoppolo's $24.2 million base salary as it stands.
But, there is one stipulation with Garoppolo's contract: it's non-guaranteed.
In the wake of the Garoppolo news, Albert Breer reported that the 49ers have been willing to let other teams communicate with Jimmy Garoppolo and his camp to re-negotiate his contract, potentially making it feasible for both sides, while absolving the 49ers from eating much salary.
"What's interesting, and I think this has been under-reported, the Niners have been 100 percent willing to let other teams come in and talk with Jimmy's camp about renegotiating his number. It's different than Baker's (Mayfield), as you know, because Baker's money was all guaranteed. None of Jimmy's money is guaranteed."
"And so, I think a lot of what happens with Jimmy is going to come down to how do you thread the needle if you're Jimmy, to 'I want to go start somewhere else. I want to get what I'm worth. But I also understand there's probably not going to be a team out there with the cash or cap flexibility to give me what's on my contract right now.'
"To me, once he's able to throw, is there a team out there that's willing to negotiate his number down, and is Jimmy willing to negotiate his number down, and are the Niners willing to take on a little bit of the money to sort of buy back a draft pick? There's a lot more moving pieces with the Jimmy situation than I think people realize, and I think he's a better player than people realize too."
"It will be interesting to see if maybe the Niners wait a couple of weeks into camp, and it turns into either there's an injury somewhere, or someone's not happy with their quarterback situation, and now, all of a sudden, you have a home for him."
As of now, only the Cleveland Browns have enough cap space to take on the entirety of Jimmy Garoppolo's contract, but given the high number and his desire to be a starter, the idea of a pay cut may be more realistic, especially due to the non-guaranteed nature of his current deal.