Thanksgiving Thanks: 49ers GM John Lynch grateful for Jimmy Garoppolo

With Thanksgiving tomorrow, it’s time to reflect on everything you are thankful for. For San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch, that is quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.

Garoppolo entered the season as Trey Lance’s backup. No one even expected him to be on the roster come Week 1. However, offseason shoulder surgery plummeted his trade value, and the 49ers eventually opted to hold onto their veteran quarterback—at a reduced cost, of course. The two sides agreed to a restructured contract, Garoppolo remained, and he stepped back into the starting role after Lance suffered a season-ending ankle injury during Week 2.

If not for Garoppolo, rookie Brock Purdy, the final selection in this year’s draft, might have had to step into the starting role after Lance went down. Owning a roster stacked with talent and ready to make a playoff run, the 49ers probably feel better about having Garoppolo, an experienced quarterback who is very familiar with the offense, under center.

“I think in a week of Thanksgiving, I’m extremely thankful for him and for the way he’s always handled things, from the time that we traded for him (in 2017) to right now,” Lynch told KNBR’s Markus Boucher and Marcus Thompson this morning. “Yeah, there were a lot of twists and turns. Thank goodness that we saw fit to reach out to Jimmy, and that Jimmy really liked it here, and kind of put his pride aside and said, ‘OK, let’s do this. I’ll stay in a backup capacity,’ at the beginning of the year.”

Over the past three games, Garoppolo has completed 73.2 percent of his passes for 703 yards, six touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 123.2. His 104.1 passer rating this season is his highest with the 49ers and ranks fourth in the NFL in 2022.