Getty Jimmy Garoppolo celebrates during the January 16, 2022 playoff win at Dallas.
One well-known and verbose media personality on Fox Sports has certainly found ways to snatch the attention of the San Francisco 49ers this July when it comes to their quarterbacks.
Here’s what Colin Cowherd has done: He went on his podcast alongside NFL columnist Mike Silver and mentioned how Trey Lance gets “arm fatigue.” That sparked one unnamed 49ers coach telling The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen that he’s “never heard anything about that a day in his life,” plus got Brandon Aiyuk to troll those who believed Lance’s arm gets fatigued.
But now, Cowherd has found his way back into the attention span of 49er fans following his latest comments, and new title, he has toward Jimmy Garoppolo.
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What ‘The Herd’ Now Calls Garoppolo
Cowherd defended and heaped praise for the quarterback who has remained the subject of ongoing trade and release rumors — speaking highly of Jimmy G on his radio show on Monday, July 18. And Cowherd gave Garoppolo this title in the NFL.
“We all have these moments where you think something and nobody else thinks it,” Cowherd said. “And you know, I think Jimmy Garoppolo [has] now become the most underrated player in the NFL — by a mile.”
Jimmy G is becoming the most underrated player in the NFL…
“I’ll lay out my argument.” — @ColinCowherd
Cowherd laid out his argument including his contract and how it really impacts the market.
“He has one year left on his contract. So if you sign him, you’re not invested for years,” Cowherd said. “He’s going to make $26 million for one year, most of it not guaranteed…alright, that’s way under market.”
Cowherd believes that “after this year” there will be up to eight NFL teams that will be in need of a quarterback, further fueling his reasons why Garoppolo can be an option. He cited these teams.
“The Jets may move off their guy. The Lions may move off [Jared] Goff. [Carson] Wentz may be out at Washington, then Tampa, Seattle, Atlanta, Carolina, the Saints and Giants,” Cowherd said.
‘The Herd’ Adds More Reasonings
Cowherd didn’t stop at Jimmy G’s availability. He then took a dive into the win/loss column — beginning first with one of Garoppolo’s more recent victories.
“Didn’t we watch him out-play Aaron Rodgers in Lambeau? Yeah, we did,” Cowherd said. “He was 5-for-6, he outplayed Aaron.”
Cowherd then attacked the next narrative: The “he can’t stay healthy” argument pundits and fans have planted on Garoppolo.
“He played in 15 of 17 regular season games this season. Then three in the playoffs. This, ‘He’s never available,’ is nonsense,” Cowherd argued. “In the Super Bowl year, he played 19 of 19 games.”
Cowherd then laid out what makes a hireable quarterback and questioned why there’s no market for the veteran 49ers QB.
“Folks, what you don’t want to be [as] a quarterback is incompetent, chaotic, uncoachable. He’s incredibly coachable,” Cowherd said. “He’s an all-star in the locker room. He was available in 95 percent of the games last year and in the Super Bowl year was upright for all of them. And there’s no market for him?”
Cowherd ended his argument with this statement.
“Jimmy Garoppolo wins games,” Cowherd said. “I find it fascinating there’s no market for Jimmy Garoppolo.”