Jimmy Garoppolo: 4 teams that aggressively pursue 49ers QB in 2023
By Peter Panacy
With the 49ers reportedly committed to Trey Lance in 2023 still, Jimmy Garoppolo has an uncertain future but will surely have some suitors as a free agent.
Yes, there’s a chance the San Francisco 49ers once again turn back to veteran quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to start for them in 2023.
How would that chance work? Well, for starters, fellow quarterback Trey Lance would either have to not be fully recovered from the season-ending ankle injury suffered earlier this season, or the Niners would have to completely give up on Lance anyway and go back to re-signing Garoppolo with the full intent of making him the starter once again.
Because Garoppolo, a free agent to be, certainly won’t return to San Francisco unless it’s in a starter’s role.
Earlier this season, Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer (h/t NBC Sports Bay Area) reported the 49ers were still very much Lance’s team moving forward, and Glazer is pretty well cemented in within the league.
So, if that means Garoppolo is out after playing arguably his best season with the Niners to date, there have to be some quarterback-needy teams that pursue him this offseason, right?
Perhaps one of these four comes calling once 2023 rolls around.
Jimmy Garoppolo suitor No. 1: Houston Texans
Yes, the Houston Texans were one of those teams that could have been in on Garoppolo last offseason, given the ties between the quarterback and Houston’s general manager, Nick Caserio, from their days together with the New England Patriots.
But the Texans opted to stick it out with second-year quarterback Davis Mills, the third-round selection out of Stanford who showed some pluck his rookie season but ultimately finds himself at the helm of a last-place Houston squad with nothing but another massive rebuild on the horizon and potentially earning the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Mills ultimately might not be the answer, and it wouldn’t be shocking whatsoever to see Caserio usher in yet another head coach and strategy to revamp a downtrodden franchise.
Grabbing a familiar face with Garoppolo who underwent a similar situation when he first joined San Francisco in 2017 might be an easy ploy to make.