San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch never named the specific teams expressing interest in Jimmy Garoppolo earlier in the offseason. Last week, ESPN's Tim Keown and Nick Wagoner revealed that the Niners expected the quarterback to be shipped to the Washington Commanders, an option that evaporated when Garoppolo opted to undergo shoulder surgery.
Today, ESPN's Adam Schefter revealed some more minor tidbits about the trade that never happened.
"The deal would have involved multiple draft picks, according to sources," Schefter wrote, "but was disrupted by the surgery to Garoppolo's throwing shoulder, which prompted the Commanders to move on from their talks with the Niners and trade two third-round picks and a fourth-round pick to the Indianapolis Colts for Carson Wentz."
Of course, none of this rehashed news matters now. The 49ers weren't able to find a trade partner after the NFL's offseason game of quarterback musical chairs had finished, leaving Garoppolo as the one without a seat. So San Francisco offered to restructure his deal, allowing him to remain with the team for one more season.
That move ended up saving the 49ers' season. Starter Trey Lance is out for the remainder of the season due to a broken ankle suffered in Week 2. Garoppolo, the team's starter of the past four-and-a-half seasons, returns to the top of the depth chart after a bizarre offseason of trade rumors and shoulder recovery.
"No OTAs, no training camp," Garoppolo said on Thursday. "It was a different type of year and I've been in some weird situations here, obviously. But yeah, this one, it had some good and bad, though. The shoulder feels good and that's number one. So once I was physically feeling better, and the rest of the things just kind of fell into place, I guess."
Update
Commanders head coach Ron Rivera was asked about ESPN's report. He clearly disputed its accuracy, stating, "That was a bull crap report."
Ron Rivera on the ESPN about Washington trying to acquire Jimmy Garoppolo:
"That was a bull crap report."
— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) September 25, 2022
