Turns Out Jimmy G Has Been a Problem Child All Along and No One Even Knew It
Jimmy Garoppolo has been in the NFL for nearly a decade now. He spent the first few years of his career with the New England Patriots and when it came time to choose between a future with Jimmy G and Tom Brady, Bill Belichick seemed a bit conflicted before he finally sent him to San Francisco.
As a member of the 49ers he showed enough that the team gave him a 5-year deal worth up to $137.5 million in February 2018. In his time as a starting quarterback he's gone 31-14, helped get the franchise back to the Super Bowl and beat Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay just last season. Still, the Niners picked Trey Lance with the third pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and have chosen him over Garoppolo.
Now, suddenly, Garoppolo is a problem.
Story confirmed by NBC @CSimmsQB: "I've heard this from players, ex-coaches there. He goes off radar all the time. Nobody can get in contact with him."
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) August 17, 2022
"They had to drive to his house and knock on his door 'Hello? are you alive??'"
(@ProFootballTalk)pic.twitter.com/sAvasAz0oX
Chris Simms has apparently been hearing these things about Garoppolo since his first offseason in San Fracisco when they gave him that big deal. Yet I don't recall any stories about him missing practices or training camp or meetings.
He just appears to be bad at returning calls in the offseason? It seems strange that the 49ers would leak any of this now as they're trying to get something back for him. So is this tradecraft? Is some other team sabotaging his value so they can get him for free? Or is he really a flake that can't be trusted who can also take a team to two Conference Championship Games in three years? As you wonder where Tom Brady is right now, it seems the answer could very well be yes. I can't wait to find out what the people around the 49ers organization have to say about Jimmy G when he's actually gone.