49ers' Shanahan shocked by Garoppolo's return: 'Win-win' move
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was as surprised as anyone by quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo's return to the team this year but believes the move is good for both sides.
"To me, it seems like everyone was just waiting for us to cut him so they could see how much they could get him for," Shanahan said, according to ESPN's Nick Wagoner. "But once the last Saturday preseason game happened and no one got injured, then Jimmy thought this was his best situation that he liked. And that's why we were so pumped, because it's obviously a better situation for the Niners."
The coach said keeping Garoppolo was a "no-brainer" if the quarterback was willing to stay in a backup role to Trey Lance and reduce his salary-cap number.
"We just didn't think the chances of that were gonna happen," Shanahan said. "And it ended up being that way. And so, when it was all said and done, even though it was pretty shocking to us, we thought it was a win-win for both sides."
The 49ers have turned to Lance under center and tried to part ways with Garoppolo in the offseason. The veteran signal-caller was expected to be traded earlier in the year, but shoulder surgery left him in limbo amid several blockbuster moves involving other starting quarterbacks across the league.
Garoppolo, whose previous contract would've been a $26.95-million hit against the 49ers' 2022 salary cap, agreed Monday to return to San Francisco on a one-year deal reportedly worth $6.5 million in base salary. The contract includes no-trade and no-tag clauses and contains performance incentives that could lift his salary to nearly $16 million.
"The first week of training camp, (I told) Jimmy like, 'Hey, if you don't like any of these opportunities … we would love to have you here as a backup in that deal. I want you to know that we feel that way, but I also think there's no way you're not gonna get something as this goes throughout training camp,'" Shanahan said.
Garoppolo owns a 31-14 regular-season record since joining the 49ers in 2017. San Francisco drafted Lance third overall in 2021.