Jimmy Garoppolo reported to San Francisco 49ers training camp on Tuesday and will continue to be seen at team facilities in the near future, but his days in the Bay Area almost certainly remain numbered.
49ers general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan provided the latest on Garoppolo's situation on Tuesday when they spoke to reporters for several minutes as players arrived for the start of camp at team facilities in Santa Clara. Lynch and Shanahan spoke in person with Garoppolo on Tuesday for the first time in months and came away with a positive outlook on Garoppolo's future as well as his health following offseason shoulder surgery.
"We had a good meeting with Jimmy this morning -- Kyle and myself -- and had a really good discussion," Lynch said. "The good news is he's feeling great and doing a nice job with his throwing program -- the ramp-up part of that. And that's exciting to hear."
Garoppolo was scheduled to be given a physical by team doctors later today. Lynch said the 49ers did not expect Garoppolo to be placed on the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list to start camp, but Garoppolo will not be a part of team drills and will be working off to the side as he continues his rehab process.
"I think like any player there's always a re-acclimation to practice and all that. So there's throwing to the side and ramping up, and he's still working on that," Lynch said.
The next step for Garoppolo and the 49ers will be finally finding a solution to the conundrum surrounding his future that both sides have faced for months. The 49ers are moving forward with Trey Lance as their starting quarterback after roughly four-and-a-half seasons with Garoppolo and would like to find a team willing to take Garoppolo in a trade. Garoppolo's offseason surgery complicated those intentions, but any reservations other teams may have had about Garoppolo's health should soon come to an end.
"We think Jimmy would have been traded if the surgery didn't happen, and it did," Shanahan said. "He needed to do it, so there's no ill will there at all. But it's good to see that he is healthy. But it's all just seeing how this will end up. All three of us are on the same page. We'll always think about Jimmy; he knows we have a team to think about too, and we'll work together to figure out the best thing for that.
"In the meantime, he's cleared to practice, but he does have a throwing program, like all guys do when you get elbow or shoulder surgery. Anything with your arm, there's a protocol on how you build them up so you don't re-aggravate that. He'll be doing that on the side and things. We don't plan on practicing him with the team and things like that. We'll take it day by day and constantly talk with him and hope we can figure out the best for both."
Teams interested in Garoppolo would surely prefer to see him get released instead of having to trade for him, but the 49ers have no intentions of letting that happen. The 49ers have been adamant throughout the process about getting something in return for Garoppolo and don't seem to have softened in that stance.
"I think it made it a lot harder with the surgery," Shanahan said. "I think that's why everyone knows the situation we're in. We understand that, so we're not trying to kid ourselves or play a game. I think the whole league understands that. We also can't just give one of the better quarterbacks of the league just to make him available for no reason to the whole world. The good thing is you can have those conversations with Jimmy, and he understands that too. So we're going to try to do the best for both sides, but there's things we've got to work through. It starts with getting the physical today by our doctors, which I expect to go well just like it did with his doctor. Then we'll see how fast this goes."
Garoppolo would have some freedom over his future destination if he was given his release, but Lynch says the veteran quarterback hasn't expressed that desire as of yet. Tuesday was the first time the 49ers had any direct discussions with Garoppolo since his departure after the 2021 season, but asking for his release wasn't a question that came up.
"No, he hasn't had that," Lynch said. "I think we've had multiple discussions and I do believe that when he left -- Jimmy, when he gets out of here, he's out of here, so it wasn't like we had ongoing conversations, but we spoke when he left. We had a pretty good understanding of what was going on. Because of the surgery and the ramifications of that in other teams' eyes, nothing's transpired as of yet. But he's here, he's reported. We'll see what happens with the physical and we'll move forward accordingly."
So how long will it take for this issue to finally come to an end? No one knows for sure, but both the 49ers and Garoppolo would like to see one happen as soon as possible.
"Everyone doesn't like to be in a holding pattern," Shanahan said. "We don't. He doesn't. So as soon as we can. That involves another team and working out somewhere Jimmy wants to go. Hopefully with everyone being on the same page and opening all the dialogue, and the same with other teams, hopefully that will happen sooner than later. I think that would be good for him and good for us."
In the meantime, Shanahan is leaving no doubt about the direction the 49ers will be taking at quarterback. Trey Lance is the starter of the present and future, which is something that Garoppolo's presence will not change.
"This is Trey's team," Shanahan said. "That's nothing against Jimmy. We made that decision a year ago and we're going with that. We're not going to mess around anymore."