Getty Jimmy Garoppolo during the January 30, 2022 NFC title game.
Jimmy Garoppolo vanishing gate took another turn for the San Francisco 49ers on Wednesday, August 17.
Following the revealing report from Michael Silver of the San Francisco Chronicle that Garoppolo wasn’t in contact with members of the 49ers including coaches following signing his $137.5 million contract, NBC Sports analyst and former NFL quarterback Chris Simms added a new layer to this reported disappearing act: A 49ers player backing that claim.
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Simms Heard Story at an Event
Simms, speaking with his NBC colleague Mike Florio, shared a story about how a “long-standing player” from the 49ers told him that the former franchise quarterback was hard to reach…even revealing the calls were never returned.
“I’m not going to name the player, but I was at an event and the player who is a long-standing player with the 49ers is like, ‘I can’t get the quarterback to call me back. I’ve called him every day for a month,’” Simms told Florio.
Simms continued, saying how others who were once involved with the 49ers had a hard time reaching the Super Bowl winner with the New England Patriots and the QB who took the Niners to Super Bowl 54 and last season’s NFC title game in a span of three seasons. Sometimes, it would require a drive to Garoppolo’s house with a knock on the door as he described.
“You hear it from everybody. I’ve heard it from ex-coaches who have moved on. It’s weird,” Simms said. “The organization has reached out to him at times and explained things to him, and they can’t get ahold of him. To the point where they have had to drive to his house and knock on the door and be like, ‘Hello? Are you alive? Are you there?’”
Has Garoppolo Damaged His Trade Value With This Report?
Now, one has to wonder if Garoppolo just became un-tradable with the season still less than a month away, but the NFL’s trade deadline set for November 1.
The 41-year-old Simms, who played five seasons in the league from 2004 to 2009 and went 7-9 as a starting quarterback according to Pro Football Reference, believes that NFL teams already know about Garoppolo’s “ghosting” habits. But still, there’s the added belief that teams may second guess rolling the dice on a trade.
“I think there’s more than just the play on the field at hand here,” Simms continued. “I think a lot of the NFL knows these stories a little bit, and I think that’s why we’ve had some teams kind of drag their feet and not sure if they want to go all in on the Jimmy Garoppolo trade.”
Currently, the Cleveland Browns are a situation that has been continuously monitored with Deshaun Watson facing a harsher punishment than his six-game suspension following his legal issues. ESPN NFL reporter Bill Barnwell told Mina Kimes that “the fit is very logical” for the Browns to add Garoppolo — adding how Cleveland has the cap space to absorb Garoppolo’s hefty salary and how head coach Kevin Stefanski runs a similar style offense to what the 49ers run.
The New York Jets were another team linked to Garoppolo not just because of the past 49ers representation on the Jets’ roster, but the recent bone bruise and meniscus injury to Zach Wilson. However, NFL insider Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network doesn’t see Garoppolo being considered for “Gang Green” as of Tuesday, August 16.