49ers, QB Jimmy Garoppolo agree to restructure to remain with team

Monday’s compromise will both provide the 49ers with Trey Lance insurance and ensure Garoppolo collects a decent 2022 sum. While this is nowhere close to the $24.2M base salary his 2018 extension was set to pay him, that was never in the cards for the 49ers. A Garoppolo release may well have led to a payment shy of this $6.5M salary as well. This new contract also includes $500K in roster bonuses. In total, Garoppolo could collect nearly $16M in 2022. The path toward cashing in all those incentives is likely tied to Lance.

For the 49ers’ payroll, Garoppolo will now come in well below the $26.95M cap figure to which he was previously tethered. The ninth-year quarterback is now expected to count around $8.5M on San Francisco’s cap sheet, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. This is an interesting solution for the 49ers, who have moved up beyond $20M in cap space after entering Monday ranking 32nd in available funds.

Garoppolo’s base salary would have become guaranteed just before the 49ers’ Week 1 game. The 49ers were never going to allow that guarantee to vest, but they had tried to trade their four-plus-year starter throughout the offseason. Garoppolo was most closely linked to the Seahawks (in the event of a 49ers release) and Browns as a Deshaun Watson stopgap. Cleveland is sticking with Jacoby Brissett, while Seattle’s Geno Smith path is for real now.

Garoppolo, 30, has been throwing for weeks now. The fifth-year 49ers passer underwent shoulder surgery in March, sidetracking his trade market, but is believed to have recovered. He can now resume practicing with his teammates. How this affects Lance, whom the 49ers have repeatedly endorsed as their 2022 starter, will be fascinating.

Although the 49ers traded two future first-round picks to move up for the North Dakota State prospect last year, Lance has thrown fewer than 400 passes in games since his senior year of high school. After dominating for the Division I-FCS superpower as a redshirt freshman in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic nixed the 2020 FCS season. Lance played in the Bison’s one 2020 game and declared for the 2021 draft. Garoppolo suffered a calf injury during the first half of last season, bringing in Lance for a spot start, but Kyle Shanahan reinstalled his veteran starter. Lance did not threaten Garoppolo’s status the rest of the way, and the 49ers rallied to their second NFC title game in three seasons.

While Garoppolo has been frequently maligned during his Bay Area tenure, he is well-liked by his teammates and has posted top-15 QBR figures in his past two healthy seasons (2019, 2021). Lance was acquired to be an upgrade, however, and likely will remain the team’s preferred 2022 option. But instead of Garoppolo trying his hand with the Seahawks or Browns, he will remain a 49er for the time being.

This could also buy the 49ers more time with Garoppolo, with his salary more manageable as a trade chip now. If Lance impresses early, Garoppolo would reside as a trade attraction for a team in need. An early-season injury to a team that currently does not possess a QB need would increase San Francisco’s bargaining position as well.