After a year sitting behind Matthew Stafford, Jimmy Garoppolo is getting his first start with the Rams.
The Los Angeles Rams have already clinched the NFC West title. So, head coach Sean McVay announced that the Rams plan to rest starting quarterback Matthew Stafford in their Week 18 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks. With Stafford out, McVay said the team will turn to former San Francisco 49ers signalcaller Jimmy Garoppolo.
Garoppolo signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the Rams this past offseason to be Stafford’s top backup. Since Stafford has not dealt with any injuries this season, Garoppolo has yet to appear in a regular-season game. Nevertheless, he will now get a chance to showcase his talents right before the Rams head to the postseason. It could easily be Garoppolo’s last opportunity to play before returning to free agency.
Garoppolo, of course, was the 49ers top quarterback for the vast majority of his six seasons with the franchise. The Niners acquired him in a midseason trade with the Patriots for a second-round pick back in 2017. The 49ers went 38-17 in Garoppolo’s starts across his tenure, but injuries and postseason struggles always seemed to cap the team’s ceiling. Those issues led San Francisco to invest in a massive trade up in the 2021 NFL Draft to select Trey Lance to eventually replace Garoppolo.
The following season, Lance usurped Garoppolo on the depth chart before suffering a season-ending injury. Garoppolo jumped at the opportunity and was playing some of the best football of his career when another injury ended his season, and opened the door for rookie seventh-round pick Brock Purdy. Needless to say, Purdy never gave the job up.
At the end of the 2022 season, Garoppolo signed a sizable deal with the Las Vegas Raiders. However, injuries and poor performance limited him to just six starts before he was released at the end of the season. Back on the open market, he inked a deal with the Rams.