Jimmy Garoppolo will earn tons of cash after Trey Lance injury

Jimmy Garoppolo doesn’t just go from a backup to a starter after Trey Lance’s season-ending injury. The veteran is about to get paid handsomely, too.

All it took was a simple 2-yard quarterback-power run by second-year signal-caller Trey Lance to justify the San Francisco 49ers electing to retain their former starter, Jimmy Garoppolo, into 2022 instead of trading or releasing him.

Late in the second quarter of the Niners’ 27-7 Week 2 win over the Seattle Seahawks, Lance attempted that 2-yard power run but ended up suffering a season-ending ankle injury, confirmed by head coach Kyle Shanahan shortly after the game.

While the greater discussion will focus on the impact on Lance’s development, especially whether or not San Francisco will ultimately capitalize on its prized investment, the injury also winds up providing a huge boost to Garoppolo, too.

Jimmy Garoppolo is about to get paid with Trey Lance injured for rest of 2022

One of the ways the 49ers made it work with regards to keeping Garoppolo around this season was to reduce his $24.2 million base salary for the final year of his current contract down to $6.5 million fully guaranteed, according to Over the Cap.

That freed up roughly $18 million in much-needed cap space, which the Niners could either spend on building the best support group possible around Lance this season, extend players into 2023 and beyond or roll over into next year.

However, Garoppolo’s reworked deal included plenty of incentives, ones which San Francisco probably never envisioned actually taking place: additional money for snaps and wins, among other things.

Here are two, courtesy of Niners Nation’s Akash Anavarathan, that stand out to monitor:

• $250,000 per game in which Garoppolo plays at least 25 percent of snaps
• $100,000 per win

With Garoppolo on the winning side of Week 2, and also having played well above 25 percent of offensive snaps, he’ll earn $350,000 right out of the gate.

Multiply that by 16 regular-season games remaining (including Week 2), Garoppolo could earn an additional $5.6 million, and that doesn’t even include a multitude of other incentives worked into his contract.

OTC has a max value of almost $14 million Garoppolo could earn this season, which is a substantial spike over the $6.5 he was originally likely to receive.

Sure, it might not be remotely close to the $24.2 million he could have received, had the 49ers traded him earlier this offseason.

But the chance to more than double his 2022 paycheck is nonetheless a massive win for Jimmy G.