After two years in the making, the split between the San Francisco 49ers and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was finally finalized this season. Garoppolo joined the Las Vegas Raiders, while the 49ers seem to have second-year signal-caller Brock Purdy penciled in as their starter.
Garoppolo had some time to gather his thoughts since leaving the Bay Area and recently decided to open up about the eventful past two seasons with the 49ers in a chat with The San Francisco Chronicle. He described the 2022 campaign as “a wild year” due to him being on the exit door only to return and start 10 games with the team.
The veteran also reflected on 2021, when the 49ers drafted North Dakota’s quarterback Trey Lance with the third overall pick but kept him as a starter.
“Yeah, the year before [2021] was real awkward,” Garoppolo said. “That was tougher than this past year, honestly. You’re always gonna be dealt a hard hand at some point, and you’ve just got to make the best of it, and that’s what I’ve tried to do. That was a hard time.”
When the 49ers drafted Lance, they believed he would succeed Garoppolo in 2022 and become the franchise’s quarterback of the future. However, Lance ended up suffering a season-ending injury early in the campaign, and now his future in San Francisco looks shaky as Garoppolo’s once was.
Garoppolo, on the other hand, is ready to start his new journey with the Raiders and hopes Las Vegas will appreciate him more than San Francisco did.
