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The era of Davante Adams and Jimmy Garoppolo has clearly gotten off to a rocky start, following some telling details from the Pro Bowl wide receiver on Tuesday, May 16 via The Ringer.
The Las Vegas Raiders wideout revealed to Mirin Fader that he doesn’t “see eye-to-eye” with the Raiders’ front office at the moment. He additionally shared how while he speaks highly of his new quarterback, he admits he hasn’t gotten a chance to be around him much — which points to a potential slow-up in developing the chemistry between the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback and Bay Area native Adams.
Those comments spurred a reaction from Garoppolo’s former New England Patriots teammate Rob Gronkowski on Wednesday, May 17 on “Up & Adams” with Kay Adams. “Gronk,” however, doesn’t believe Adams was taking shots at his new signal-caller.
“If he’s really mad that Jimmy G is there, I’m sure he’s going to go in, and he’s going to be a great quarterback,” Gronkowski said to Adams. “He already knows the system and how [head coach] Josh McDaniels works. He’s already worked under McDaniels in New England and did a great job when he started the few games that he did. So I don’t really see why he should have a problem with the quarterback position. It must be something with the front office. We’ll see how it plays out.”
Does Gronk Believe Garoppolo Can Fit With the Raiders?
The 49ers spent the last two seasons trying to get Garoppolo onto another team.
In 2022 during the offseason, Garoppolo was the subject of trade rumblings. However, the 49ers never found a true suitor and ultimately, Garoppolo was lured back under a lesser restructured $7 million deal compared to the $137.5 million ($27.5 annually) he was previously given. Even after briefly leading the 49ers after Trey Lance went down with a broken ankle, Garoppolo still faced a nebulous future in the Bay Area and ultimately, was no longer a part of the 49ers’ plans moving forward by allowing him to walk in free agency.
Garoppolo is now on a $72,750,000 deal for three years with the Raiders. Does Gronkowski believe it’s a fair deal to give Jimmy G?
Gronkowski responded to Adams with “100%” that Garoppolo is a fit for the Raiders.
“It’s not like they’re paying him top dollar. So then you can put the product around him like Davante Adams, and they brought in the tight end Michael Mayer from Norte Dame, the second-round pick. I think he’s a great addition to that offense as well. And they got the running back [Josh Jacobs] as well. So they just need a quarterback, I would say, who knows how to run the system,” Gronkowski explained.
Adams, though, is still facing the inevitability of playing in a more short-passing-oriented attack with Garoppolo’s arrival. Adams himself brought up this concern to Fader.
“If we play a certain brand of ball, I can get [Garoppolo] to conform to whatever. But if we use him a certain type of way, then it’s going to make it tough for us to maximize who we should be this year,” Adams said.
Gronkowski, though, believes McDaniel’s offense is tailored made for Garoppolo.
“They don’t need a first-team All-Pro quarterback. They just need a guy who knows how to operate — and that’s what Jimmy G can do,” Gronkowski said.
49ers QB Gets New Opportunity via All-Pro Teammate
Meanwhile, Lance continues to trek on his journey of re-establishing himself as QB1 for the 49ers. And now, he’s been given a new training session: Tight End University.
One of the creators behind TEU, Lance’s All-Pro teammate George Kittle, revealed to ESPN Chicago’s Waddle & Silvy show that Lance is among the passers heading out to the third annual event.
“We got some great quarterbacks coming in—Josh Allen, Trey Lance,” Kittle said. “It’s going to be a good one. It’ll be really fun down there in Nashville.”
This also gives Lance an early opportunity before 2023 training camp to rebuild his chemistry with Kittle as the two only had two games together in 2022 and now, Lance will be anticipated to have a fierce battle with Brock Purdy for starting quarterback honors the moment the 49ers head into July training camp.
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