All eras end, and it looks like a particularly short one might be over.
According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, current Los Angeles Rams quarterback and former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is considering retirement:
#Rams free agent QB Jimmy Garoppolo, considered their top option as backup QB, is considering retirement, sources say.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 20, 2026
Jimmy G, who has started 64 games during a 12-year career, has made over $156M in all. He is 34 and is mulling a final decision. pic.twitter.com/GqpB5YU3uz
This probably isn't surprising.
Ever since the 2022 foot injury that heralded the rise of Brock Purdy, Garoppolo has had little luck with injuries, including a disastrous stint with the Las Vegas Raiders. In fact, he almost didn't even make the move at all, delaying the introductory press conference due to a unexpectedly troublesome physical, arising from a poor recovery from the same injury.
After a year with Josh McDaniels where he looked far from the player that once held 49ers' fans hopes in his hands, Garoppolo has made a living as a high-quality backup, appearing in four games for the Rams in the last two years, starting one.
Now it looks like that might be over, and with it goes the Niners' opportunity for a "revenge game" against their former quarterback. It looked like they might have got the chance in either of the last two years, with players being rested and injuries to the Rams' own starting signal-caller, Matthew Stafford.
But alas, it never materalised.
That's likely a shame for Kyle Shanahan and the rest of the 49ers coaching staff who remember working with Jimmy G, particularly given the amount of times Shanahan coached around his quarterback's deficiencies. Not to mention the sour way things ended in the Bay Area, with rumors of Garoppolo completely dropping contact with San Francisco during his recovery, leading to many on the 49ers not actually knowing where he was.
It also may shift the Rams draft strategy, which could have an impact on the Niners. Could the Rams spend part of this draft looking for head coach Sean McVay's next quarterback? While Stafford is still tremendously talented, he's age 38 and has battled injury through the years.
It's hard to envisage how history will remember Garoppolo. It's been an awful long time since 49ers fans debated whether he was a franchise quarterback or not, and even longer since he gained some ironic "MVP" chants for leading the team to a 5-0 record in his first starts after arriving by trade from the New England Patriots in 2017.
He finished a turbulent six-year 49ers career with 82 touchdowns against 42 interceptions, despite missing the vast majority of the 2018 and 2020 seasons. Really, the injuries are the major reason why Garoppolo's career felt so stop-start; he was out of the lineup almost as much as he was in it, even at his peak.
No one can forget the 2019 season, however, where he was clearly a very good operator of the system, everyone was happy, and there were some huge moments that Niners fans will remember, including the viral "feels great, baby" moment with ESPN reporter Erin Andrews, in the midst of an 8-0 start that ended in a Super Bowl appearance.
That year exemplified the best and worst of Garoppolo, with some tremendous performances, but they were ultimately overshadowed by his failure to hit wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders on a deep ball late in the Super Bowl, as well as an anemic performance overall.
It's hard to know how much his career might have changed had he been able to help San Francisco to a win in that game, but it feels pretty easy to say the franchise likely doesn't move up to take quarterback Trey Lance in the 2021 NFL Draft, which could change an earth-shattering number of things in 49ers history.
Maybe then, he doesn't get injured. Maybe that leads to Purdy's talent never being discovered. And maybe we're now having a very different 2026 NFL Draft discussion. Who knows?
Maybe that's the epitaph for Garoppolo's career: It could've been anything, but ultimately, moments passed him by when it mattered the most, keeping him a confusing footnote in Niners history rather than a truly historical one. He followed great moments with some boneheaded ones, particularly inexplicable turnovers. Perhaps if he had shown a little more dedication to football in key times, and meshed better with Shanahan, we'd be having different conversations about him today.
As it is, he looks set to end with two Super Bowl rings, and contracts worth $156 million in the bank. he certainly won at the business of football.
It's just a shame he didn't win a little bit more on the field when it mattered for the 49ers.
Still, we'll always have "feels great, baby."
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