Jimmy Garoppolo knew his time as the 49ers starting quarterback was limited the moment that the team traded up to take Trey Lance with the third overall pick in last year’s draft and it likely came to an end on Sunday night.
That’s when Garoppolo’s backhanded fling under pressure late in the fourth quarter was intercepted by Rams linebacker Travin Howard and sent Los Angeles to the Super Bowl. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan declined to make a “farewell statement” about Garoppolo after the game, but one is likely coming and Garoppolo sounded like a man summing things up when it was his time to speak to the media.
“They hit pretty hard in the locker room,” Garoppolo said, via 49ersWebzone.com. “I think these next couple days it’ll really start to settle in a little bit. Emotions are high after a game, win or loss. It’s one of those things you’ve got to be glad it happened, smile from it, and think about the good things. We’ll see what happens in these next couple of days, weeks, whatever, but I love this team. The fight and the battle in this team throughout the entire year has been really impressive, and I love those guys.”
It’s not clear what the 49ers’ exact steps will be with Garoppolo, but the only surprise will be if they involve bringing him back for another season when Lance is waiting in the wings and more than $25 million in cap relief is staring them in the face.