ESPN predicts former 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo lasts just 1 year with Raiders

The 49ers had an awfully tough time trying to quit Jimmy Garoppolo over the years, but ESPN is predicting the Raiders won't follow the same path.

In total, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo spent the better part of six seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, helping them get to three NFC Championship games and one Super Bowl during his tenure, most of which was starting for head coach Kyle Shanahan.

When healthy, of course. And, as Niners fans remember well, that wasn't always often.

Shanahan and Co. signaled the eventual end of the Garoppolo era back in the spring of 2021 when they aggressively traded up to No. 3 overall in that year's NFL Draft, a move that culminated with the selection of quarterback Trey Lance.

While Lance has only played four regular-season starts since, Garoppolo was ultimately shown the free-agent door entering 2023 after a complex legacy with San Francisco. One that involved inevitable trades, only to see those trades fall apart.

It took a while for the 49ers to commit to a post-Garoppolo time, but that time has finally come.

Garoppolo subsequently joined the Niners' old Bay Area rivals, the now-Las Vegas Raiders, on a three-year free-agent deal that also included some controversy surrounding a failed physical, an addendum to his contract and the ability to get out from underneath Jimmy G with no financial ramification within an early timeframe.

That appears to be in the rearview mirror, but it doesn't mean Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels and Co. are going to be set on Jimmy G for the long run.

And that's what one ESPN prediction says.

ESPN predicts Raiders quit Jimmy Garoppolo as early as 2024

Garoppolo lasted six years in San Francisco.

According to ESPN's Dan Graziano (h/t Raiders Wire's Marcus Mosher), Jimmy G lasts just a single season out in Vegas, and Graziano came up with the following prediction:

"The Raiders struggle badly in 2023 with a roster that appears to be much worse than the one McDaniels took over just last offseason. Garoppolo misses a chunk of games because of injury. Davante Adams, who went to Vegas to play with his college buddy Carr, decides he wants to be traded.

The Raiders, as the 49ers once did, decide they can’t count on Garoppolo to stay healthy and move on. In this scenario, they have a very high pick in the draft — maybe high enough to get [Caleb] Williams or [Drake] Maye."

Read more: Davante Adams not happy with Jimmy G joining Raiders? Sounds like it

It's important to note that this is just speculation. If Garoppolo performs well enough for McDaniels while donning the silver and black, it's hard to see Vegas moving on after just one season.

But, as if often the case when a team winds up with a very high draft pick, only the most elite of quarterbacks should be considered safe when it comes to NFL Draft season the following year.

Garoppolo, as most 49ers fans know and understand, is not in that category.

Either way, it'll be fun to discuss and speculate about both Garoppolo's time with the Niners and his future with the Raiders, particularly when both teams open up their 2023 preseason campaigns against each other on Sunday, Aug. 13.

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