San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo will hit free agency on March 15. With the Niners already declaring that his time in Santa Clara has come to an end, Garoppolo will play elsewhere during the 2023 season.
He may be headed for Las Vegas.
According to ESPN's Dan Graziano, the Raiders are expected to pursue Garoppolo if they fail to acquire Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
"If they can't get [Rodgers], a lot of people in Indianapolis this week expect McDaniels and GM Dave Ziegler to pursue free agent quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, whom they know from his time in New England early in his career," wrote Graziano.
Garoppolo spent the past five-and-a-half seasons with the 49ers, landing with the Bay Area team in a 2017 trade. The quarterback succeeded Trey Lance in September when the starter went down with a season-ending ankle injury. Garoppolo suffered a broken foot on December 4 and did not return to the football field this past season. Rookie Brock Purdy replaced the veteran.
Garoppolo finished the 2022 season having completed 67.2 percent of his passes for 2,437 yards with 16 touchdowns and four interceptions. His 103.0 passer rating was his highest since arriving with the 49ers.
"Jimmy has been tremendous for us," general manager John Lynch said last week at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. "In our first year, at the end of the year, we do a trade, and Jimmy comes in, lights it up. And a lot of people want to talk about what we didn't accomplish with him. What I know is we won a lot of football games with Jimmy. We admire his toughness. We admire the teammate that he was.
"I know everyone wants to talk about some discourse and all that, but I do believe that it's probably run its course. But I think we leave with nothing but fond memories for Jimmy, and Jimmy is going to go play good football for someone."