Getty Jimmy Garoppolo on August 26, 2023.
Jimmy Garoppolo didn’t take long to break his silence about the San Francisco 49ers‘ latest blockbuster trade — the one that officially sent his original replacement Trey Lance to the Dallas Cowboys.
Speaking with Robin Lundberg of Sports Illustrated on the morning of Tuesday, August 29, the newest Las Vegas Raiders signal-caller Garoppolo was asked about his thoughts on seeing what was supposed to be the franchise QB of the Niners get traded. Right away, there was no pause from Garoppolo…he gave a straight shooter answer.
“Weird situation,” Garoppolo said right away while shaking his head. “Been a lot of weird situations over there in San Francisco. Just going to leave it at that.”
Jimmy Garoppolo joined @robinlundberg to share his thoughts on the 49ers trading Trey Lance to the Cowboys 👀
How Does Garoppolo Feel About Seeing Lance in a Cowboys Uniform?
Even more odd regarding the 49ers-Cowboys swap — the Niners realistically made a deal with a longtime postseason rival, plus a team they’ve rekindled that January rival with in the last two playoffs.
How does Garoppolo feel, though, about seeing Lance in a new uniform?
“You know, I’m happy Trey got another shot,” Garoppolo said.
Then came this fastball from Lundberg: “How do you think San Francisco has handled those quarterback situations?”
That’s when Garoppolo gave his longer pause…then slowly flashed a smile and reversed course.
“How do you think they’ve handled them?” Garoppolo asked back, prompting a laugh.
Lundberg then chimed in by saying “I think it’s been messy. I’ll put it that way.”
Garoppolo added: “That’s a nice way to put it.”
Garoppolo Continued to React Elsewhere
Garoppolo and Lance were only teammates for two seasons.
And as 49er fans recall, Lance was taken No. 3 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft to one day succeed Garoppolo, who was in his early 30s at the time but injury prone.
Garoppolo continued to react to the Lance trade with the NFL Network on Tuesday.
“Things didn’t work out in San Francisco for whatever reasons, but glad that he gets another shot, man,” Garoppolo said in an interview with NFL Total Access. “This league’s all about opportunities, and when you get a fresh one like that, you’ve just got to take advantage of it.”
However, Jimmy G admits that he didn’t know the whole dynamics of what transpired inside the 49ers’ facility that sparked the trade. And that includes his former head coach Kyle Shanahan.
“I don’t know how the whole thing shook out and everything,” Garoppolo said. “While I was there, Kyle was gonna call the plays for you. You’ve just got to go up there and execute them to the best of your ability.”
But even though the 49ers made the stunning move to draft Lance in the top five, Garoppolo insists there was no enmity between he and Lance when they were brief teammates.
“Trey’s a brother of mine, man, so like I said before, I’m always pulling for him,” Garoppolo said.
The Ex-49ers quarterback, soon to enter his first season with the Silver and Black as a 2023 free agent pickup, then sent this message about how he thinks Lance’s career will go.
“I think he’s got a bright future in this league. Dude’s got talent. Just got to get him out there,” Garoppolo said.