An offseason that started with no one believing quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo would remain with the 49ers ended with exactly that outcome after Garoppolo agreed to revise his contract in order to stick with the NFC West club as a backup to Trey Lance.
Garoppolo’s trade prospects dimmed when he had shoulder surgery in early March and he told reporters on Thursday that he knew that would happen, but “you’ve got to take care of your body” even if it meant he would not wind up with a team that gave him a shot at a starting job. Garoppolo said that the initial plan of avoiding surgery became untenable when the injury didn’t improve and that he’s happy how everything came together even if it wasn’t how he saw things playing out over the last few months.
“After about three, four weeks of that, it wasn’t happening, it wasn’t working,” Garoppolo said, via 49ersWebzone.com. “We were like, ‘Alright, we’ve got to get the surgery.’ That’s when we made that choice and I’m happy the way it worked out. I don’t think it was the exact way I wanted it to work out but everything happens for a reason. . . . Me, I’m happy with where I’m at. Happy to be the Niners. I think the Niners are happy to have me back. I think things are working out pretty well.”
The 49ers have expressed the same happiness about the way the long, strange trip worked out, which makes this about the oddest win-win outcome that could have come to fruition.