Jimmy Garoppolo

NFC Contract Details: Golston, Giants, Bucs, Cowboys, Cards, Panthers, Seahawks, Eagles

March 25th, 2025 at 2:37pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are more contract details from some recently agreed-upon contracts around the NFC in free agency:

Poona Ford, DT (Rams). Three years, $27.6MM. While not quite as high as the $30MM initial report, Ford’s contract includes $15.6MM guaranteed at signing, via OverTheCap. This comes after Ford played the 2024 season for $1.79MM in total. The Rams guaranteed $3.75MM of Ford’s $5MM 2026 base salary at signing. If on Los Angeles’ roster by Day 5 of the ’26 league year, Ford will see the other $1.5MM lock in. If the 29-year-old DT is still on L.A.’s roster on Day 3 of the 2027 league year, a $2.25MM roster bonus is due.
Chauncey Golston, DE (Giants). Three years, $18MM. This is slightly less than initially reported, but The Athletic’s Dan Duggan indicates it comes with $12MM fully guaranteed. The Giants guaranteed Golston’s 2025 and ’26 money.
Baron Browning, LB (Cardinals). Two years, $15MM. Receiving $10MM guaranteed at signing, Browning will see part of his 2026 base salary guaranteed. $2MM of the trade pickup’s $4.39MM 2026 base is locked in at signing, per Cards Wire’s Howard Balzer, who adds a $2MM roster bonus is due on Day 5 of the 2026 league year. The bonus is not guaranteed at signing. If Browning reaches eight sacks in 2025, his 2026 base salary increases by $2MM. Five sacks represents Browning’s highwater mark thus far.
Patrick Jones, LB (Panthers). Two years, $15MM. This is down from the initial report as well, but the ex-Vikings rotational rusher will see $10.25MM guaranteed, The Athletic’s Joe Person tweets. Another $4MM is available via performance-based incentives, per OverTheCap.
Evan Brown, G (Cardinals). Two years, $11.44MM. The Cardinals are guaranteeing Brown $6MM at signing, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson tweets. If the veteran interior O-lineman is on Arizona’s roster by Day 5 of the 2026 league year, he is due a $500K roster bonus.
Akeem Davis-Gaither, LB (Cardinals). Two years, $10MM. Arizona is guaranteeing Davis-Gaither $5MM at signing, Wilson tweets. The veteran linebacker’s $4.39MM 2026 base salary is nonguaranteed, giving the Cardinals an out after one year.
Anthony Nelson, LB (Buccaneers). Two years, $10MM. The Bucs guaranteed Nelson $5.5MM to re-sign, Wilson tweets. Tampa Bay included a $500K roster bonus due on Day 5 of the 2026 league year.
Markquese Bell, S/LB (Cowboys). Three years, $9MM. Bell will be guaranteed $6.2MM at signing, Wilson adds; this covers the young defender’s signing bonus and 2025 and ’26 base salaries.
Jamie Gillan, P (Giants). Three years, $9MM. Down a bit from initial reports, Gillan’s deal includes $4MM guaranteed, Duggan adds. The deal includes $1.2MM via incentives.
Solomon Thomas, DL (Cowboys). Two years, $6MM. The Cowboys guaranteed the former No. 3 overall pick $3MM, Wilson tweets. That covers a signing bonus and his 2025 base salary. An additional $2MM is available through playing time- and sack-based incentives.
Josh Jones, OL (Seahawks). One year, $4MM. Jones will see $3MM guaranteed at signing, per OverTheCap. This is up from his $665K guarantee with the Ravens last year.
Jimmy Garoppolo, QB (Rams). One year, $3MM. The Rams secured Garoppolo for a second season, doing so despite authorizing a pay cut. Garoppolo played out a one-year, $3.19MM deal in 2024. Like in 2024, Garoppolo’s deal is fully guaranteed.
Josh Uche, DE (Eagles). One year, $1.92MM. The Eagles guaranteed Uche $1.25MM, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane tweets. $500K in sack-based incentives are available. Uche played for $3MM in 2024. Despite this low-value deal, Philly included four void years.

Rams To Re-Sign Jimmy Garoppolo

March 10th, 2025 at 11:50am CST by Sam Robinson

Sean McVay said recently he wanted the Rams to re-sign Jimmy Garoppolo. After the team took care of its higher-profile quarterback matter, QB2 continuity is on tap.

The latest veteran to stop through and back up Matthew Stafford, Garoppolo has a one-year deal in place to stay with the Rams, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo reported on NFL Network. Garoppolo secured a similar base value ($4.51MM) compared to his 2024 contract, but NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero adds $9MM in incentives are also included. This would seemingly pertain to potential Garoppolo starts, should Stafford go down.

Garoppolo followed Baker Mayfield and Carson Wentz into town as the Rams’ backup QB. Unlike Mayfield, Garoppolo did not need to play any games of consequence. Although the Rams could have moved up in the NFC playoff seeding hierarchy, they sat a host of starters in Week 18. Garoppolo received the start and played well, throwing for 334 yards and two touchdowns in a loss to the Seahawks.

The Rams had given Garoppolo a landing spot after a rough Raiders season. The Raiders had benched Garoppolo, after Davante Adams had made calls for it during a season in which the team fired Josh McDaniels, and made him a post-June 1 cut. In a rather interesting turn, Garoppolo and Adams are back together. The Rams acquired the All-Pro receiver Sunday night. If Stafford’s injury trouble produces an absence, Netflix’s Receiver project will be worth circling back to as a reminder of how poorly that QB-WR fit was in Las Vegas.

Garoppolo, 33, had been the 49ers’ primary starter for five seasons. He guided the team to Super Bowl LIV and then helped San Francisco out of a jam the Trey Lance miss caused, coming off the trade block to sign a reworked deal to stay in 2022. While the 49ers advanced to the NFC title game once again, it was Brock Purdy at the controls that year.

Making 64 career starts, Garoppolo has seen a litany of injuries keep that number fairly low. He suffered an ACL tear in September 2018 and played only six games in 2020, as ankle trouble surfaced. After playing through multiple injuries in 2021, Garoppolo suffered a Jones fracture to introduce Purdy to the NFL world in 2022. He missed two games with the Raiders in 2023 and ended up on the backup tier soon after the team’s McDaniels firing.

The Rams want to develop a young QB behind Stafford, via The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue, but Stetson Bennett has not proven to be that option. For now, Garoppolo will remain the team’s Stafford insurance policy.

Matthew Stafford Notes: Timeline, McVay, Giants, Garoppolo

March 1st, 2025 at 10:01pm CST by Adam La Rose

The top storyline at the Combine saw a resolution come about on Friday. Matthew Stafford reached agreement on a new deal with the Rams, ending the chance of a trade being worked out which would have sent him to a new team for the second time in his career.

The Raiders and Giants made strong pushes to acquire the 37-year-old before a summit with Los Angeles yielded a new agreement. Once the restructured pact is in place, Stafford will be assured of playing at least the 2025 campaign, his fifth with the Rams. Financial terms are not yet known, and that will likely be the case for the time being.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports the new Stafford pact will be finalized over the coming weeks. A framework is clearly in place, and with financial clarity the Rams have already worked out a new deal with left tackle Alaric Jackson. Still, Rapoport notes the exact details – including Stafford’s compensation for 2025 and the cap structure of the contract – will likely not emerge until the start of the new league year later this month.

Here are some other notes related to yesterday’s major QB news:

It was learned shortly before the agreement was reached that Stafford and head coach Sean McVay had remained in communication through this process. To little surprise, the chance to remain with the Super Bowl winner was a key factor in a resolution being found. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer writes Stafford’s preference was to stay in Los Angeles and extend his partnership with McVay. The team went to the divisional round of the playoffs in 2024, and expectations will be high moving forward with continuity on the sidelines and under center.
The Raiders were seen as the likelier suitor to acquire Stafford when a trade was on the table, and parameters on a contract were reported to be in place. The Giants made a strong pursuit as well, though, and SNY’s Connor Hughes notes New York was prepared to swing a trade and commit to a contract worth more than $50MM per year (video link). The 16-year veteran has been connected to an asking price which would make him the oldest member of the group at that financial threshold. Taking the Giants’ interest one step further, Paul Schwartz of the New York Post confirms the team was willing to commit to a two-year pact including between $90MM and $100MM guaranteed. GM Joe Schoen will now look elsewhere on the veteran market.
In the event a trade had been made, Aaron Rodgers would have been a name to watch regarding replacement options for the Rams. Dianna Russini of The Athletic writes the 41-year-old would indeed have received consideration, adding the same would have been true of Jimmy Garoppolo (subscription required). The latter is a pending free agent after he took a one-year deal in 2024 to handle backup duties. He could be retained as a high-end QB2 option for next year; failing that, the Rams could turn to Stetson Bennett, who has yet to make a regular season NFL appearance.

Rams QB Jimmy Garoppolo Addresses Health, Free Agency

August 17th, 2024 at 8:26pm CST by Adam La Rose

After being benched in favor of Aidan O’Connell midway through the 2023 season, it was clear Jimmy Garoppolo would need to find a new team in free agency. The veteran passer wound up taking the Rams’ backup gig, a move he recently reflected on.

Garoppolo noted the presence of starter Matthew Stafford and head coach Sean McVay as key factors in his decision to sign with Los Angeles during an interview with The Athletic’s Jeff Howe (subscription required). The 32-year-old took a one-year deal with a base value of $3.18MM to serve as Stafford’s No. 2 this season. He noted that other teams had interest in him, but a decision to join the Rams was made rather quickly with an agreement being reached on March 20.

“This place allows you to be yourself, too, which is different than other places I’ve been,” Garoppolo said about his new employer (while declining to go into further detail on his previous stops). “You’re getting pressed with a sense of urgency but in a good way… They do it in the right way here. They push you positively.”

The former second-rounder did fill the role of Tom Brady New England successor he was drafted to hold, but he made 55 starts across six seasons with the 49ers. Brock Purdy‘s emergence made Garoppolo expendable, though, and he signed with the Raiders last March. That move had him lined up for starting duties under Josh McDaniels, but Vegas’ decision to start over on the sidelines and in the front office (not to mention Garoppolo’s latest injury issues) left O’Connell atop the depth chart to close out the season.

Now, Garoppolo will spend at least one year attempting to remain healthy and in doing so provide the Rams with an experienced option if Stafford, 36, misses time. The latter had his contract restructured this summer, but the team views his future on a year-to-year basis. It is therefore uncertain who will be under center for Los Angeles in 2025, but in Garoppolo’s case a return to health ahead of the coming campaign carries signficant value on its own.

“It’s really nice having a healthy offseason,” he said. “I haven’t had one of those in awhile. The foot surgery was tough last year. For anyone who’s ever been through that, that wasn’t a fun recovery, but I feel like I’m back to myself. Being in this role, I get to experiment with some things, being with the 2s… I haven’t had that in a little while, so it feels nice to get back to that.”

Rams Looking At Matthew Stafford As Year-To-Year Proposition

August 12th, 2024 at 9:57pm CST by Sam Robinson

Much of this offseason’s Rams-Matthew Stafford negotiations appeared to stem from the quarterback wanting more security beyond 2024. The resolution brought a different result, calling the talented passer’s Los Angeles future into question.

The team moved $5MM from future years into 2024, benefiting the 16th-year veteran now rather than later. Although Stafford saw a $4MM 2025 roster bonus become part of his $40MM guarantee package on this revision, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler notes the Rams are still viewing this partnership through a year-to-year lens. The former Lions mainstay’s contract — a four-year, $160MM deal agreed to following Super Bowl LVI — still runs through 2026.

After a concerning 2022 packed with multiple injuries, Stafford rebounded to lift what had been viewed as a retooling Rams team back into the playoffs. The team returns Stafford’s receiving corps from last season, which is poised to include a healthy Cooper Kupp, and did not let its QB’s contract matter drag into training camp like a few other NFC situations. As of now, the Rams believe Stafford is still playing at a high level and want him back beyond 2024, Fowler adds. But injuries have become a regular issue for the cannon-armed QB, making retirement a subject that will be monitored from the team’s side.

Stafford, 36, has deflected retirement rumors in the past and has seen QBs play well into their late 30s and, in some cases, past 40. Sean McVay also said the Rams are content with Stafford as long as he wants to play. This might not be a matter the Rams need to worry about just yet. After all, ex-McVay staffers in Atlanta are preparing to coach a soon-to-be 36-year-old Kirk Cousins — who just received a $100MM practical guarantee — coming off Achilles surgery. But Stafford is obviously on the back nine of his career.

Only that $4MM roster bonus is guaranteed beyond 2024, but the Rams would face a $49.33MM dead money bill if Stafford retired after this season. His 2025 cap number is scheduled to be $49.67MM. That would set an NFL record, but we are close to seeing the bar move here. Deshaun Watson is on the cusp of playing on a $63.77MM cap number, while Dak Prescott — absent an extension — is at $55.13MM. Daniel Jones and Kyler Murray join Stafford in being set to play on $45MM-plus cap figures this season.

While Jared Goff has rebounded in Detroit, Stafford played the lead role in pushing Los Angeles’ 2021 effort to the mountaintop. He also received, believe it or not, his first original-ballot Pro Bowl invite last season, ranking sixth in QBR as well. The Rams should remain in good hands as long as their starter is healthy, though Fowler adds the Jimmy Garoppolo addition generated some attention — despite the former 49ers starter’s rough Raiders year — this offseason.

Taking over for Carson Wentz as the latest McVay QB2 reboot candidate, Garoppolo will have a chance to stabilize his career in L.A. Baker Mayfield‘s L.A. stint did not generate a strong free agent market, but it provided some momentum after a disastrous Panthers campaign. Garoppolo’s contract expires in March, though the 32-year-old passer becoming an immediate fit with McVay would naturally attract mutual interest in a reunion. This could depend on Stafford’s plans, as Garoppolo should still stand to have some options in 2025.

Eventually, the Rams will need a true heir apparent. For now, they are fine with Stafford. They spent big on guards (Kevin Dotson, Jonah Jackson) to help protect their centerpiece player. This situation will still be one to monitor, especially if another Stafford injury leads to Garoppolo playing time.

Davante Adams Addresses Raiders’ Decision To Bench Jimmy Garoppolo

July 15th, 2024 at 10:00pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Raiders signed Jimmy Garoppolo last offseason, but he struggled early in the campaign. That was followed by a pair of missed contests and the midseason firings of Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler. By the time the veteran quarterback was healthy, he had been benched in favor of rookie Aidan O’Connell.

The latter held starting duties through the remainder of the season, a period with interim head coach Antonio Pierce at the helm. Pierce was hired on a full-time basis after receiving the endorsement of several high-profile Raiders players. One of those was wideout Davante Adams, who appears to have had a say in the decision to replace Garoppolo with O’Connell.

A scene from Netflix’s Receiver series shows Adams being asked his thoughts on the QB decision. The three-time All-Pro replies, “well, my opinion on that was that I signed off on that, and that’s just the reality of it” (h/t Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk).

It comes as little surprise Adams’ opinion would be asked about a quarterback switch, but his remark suggests further frustration between he and the team could have emerged had Garoppolo stayed in place. Adams joined Vegas in the hopes of reuniting with former college teammate Derek Carr, but that was only the case for one year. Carr’s departure prompted the ill-fated Garoppolo signing and questions about Adams’ future with the Raiders. It seems his desire to remain with the organization was a factor in his view on the shift to O’Connell.

“I love Jimmy.” the 31-year-old added. “He’s a great guy, but something had to happen in order for us to have a chance down the stretch, and for me to remain a Raider, in all honesty.”

Adams recently offered a public commitment to Vegas despite continued interest on the part of former teammates (including Aaron Rodgers) to have him seek a trade elsewhere. Such a move is unlikely at this point, but it is clear Adams had his short- and long-term future in mind when giving his thoughts on the Raiders’ 2023 QB depth chart. O’Connell is still in place, and he will spend training camp competing for the No. 1 gig with Gardner Minshew.

As for Adams, three years remain on his contract (although no guaranteed salary is in place beyond 2024). The six-time Pro Bowler’s cap hits are scheduled to spike next offseason, so an extension or other adjustment could be needed by that point. It will be interesting to see how he meshes with O’Connell and/or Minshew over the course of the coming campaign during Pierce’s first full year as head coach.

NFL Active Leaders In Career Earnings

July 13th, 2024 at 10:00pm CST by Ben Levine

Kirk Cousins‘ four-year, $180MM deal with the Falcons this season vaulted him up the list of active career earners. This was by virtue of his $50MM signing bonus, adding to the more than $231MM he earned from the Commanders and (mostly) the Vikings throughout his career. Even under the worst-case scenario, Cousins will still see at least another $50MM come his way via his contract with Atlanta, which would push his career earnings north of $331MM.

While the soon-to-be 36-year-old Cousins will surely see a significant portion of the $80MM worth of unguaranteed money on his contract, he’ll still be hard pressed to catch Aaron Rodgers on the career-earnings list. Rodgers earned more than $306MM during his long tenure in Green Bay, and he’s already made close to $37MM during his one season in New York (mostly via the $35MM signing bonus on his reworked pact).

With at least $40MM of additional guarantees coming his way from the Jets, Rodgers will continue to grow his lead as the highest-earning NFL player of all time. Both Rodgers and Matthew Stafford were able to leap Tom Brady among the NFL’s highest all-time earners over the past year.

With all that said, we’ve listed the 25 active players who have earned the most money in their NFL careers (h/t to OverTheCap.com). While this list is up to date, it doesn’t account for soon-to-realized salaries for the 2024 campaign. This list is also solely focused on NFL cash and does not include off-the-field earnings:

QB Aaron Rodgers: $343MM
QB Matthew Stafford: $328MM
QB Russell Wilson: $305MM
QB Kirk Cousins: $281MM
QB Jared Goff: $234MM
LB Von Miller: $179MM
QB Joe Flacco: $177MM
OT Trent Williams: $171MM
QB Derek Carr: $165MM
LB Khalil Mack: $162MM
QB Dak Prescott: $161MM
DL Aaron Donald: $157MM
QB Jimmy Garoppolo: $150MM
DE Calais Campbell: $143MM
QB Deshaun Watson: $142MM
QB Patrick Mahomes: $136MM
DE Joey Bosa: $134MM
DL Leonard Williams: $134MM
WR Mike Evans: $132MM
QB Carson Wentz: $130MM
WR DeAndre Hopkins: $128MM
WR Stefon Diggs: $126MM
DE Cameron Jordan: $126MM
OT Lane Johnson: $121MM
DT Chris Jones: $120MM

NFC Contract Details: Bucs, Mayfield, Eagles, Sweat, Parker, Rams, Garoppolo, Saints

April 3rd, 2024 at 5:59pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are the details from some of the recently agreed-upon contracts around the NFC:

Baker Mayfield, QB (Buccaneers). Three years, $100MM. Of the $50MM in Mayfield guarantees, $40MM is fully guaranteed. The other $10MM will shift from an injury guarantee to a full guarantee on Day 5 of the 2025 league year. Mayfield can also earn $5MM per year via incentives, Fox Sports’ Greg Auman notes. Half of those are stat-based incentives. If Mayfield finishes in the top 10 in the NFL (or top five in the NFC) in passer rating, TD passes, yards, yards per attempt or completion percentage in any of the three years, he would earn $500K per category, Auman adds. The other $2.5MM per year comes through playoff incentives. Mayfield would earn $500K for a Bucs wild-card win, $750K for a divisional-round conquest and $500K for an NFC championship game win. If the Bucs are to win a Super Bowl with Mayfield at the helm, he would collect another $750K.
Darious Williams, CB (Rams). Three years, $22.5MM. Only $7MM of Williams’ $15MM guarantee is locked in at signing, per The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue. This contract’s key date will come on Day 5 of the 2025 league year, when the remaining $8MM will shift from an injury guarantee to a full guarantee. Barring injury, this effectively makes 2024 a “prove it” year for the now-two-time Rams CB.
Josh Sweat, DE (Eagles). One year, $10MM. The Eagles’ Sweat rework will bring $9.5MM guaranteed for the veteran defensive end, per OverTheCap. Philly used four void years to spread out the cap hit, which sits at $8.1MM for 2024. If Sweat signs elsewhere before this contract’s March 2025 expiration, the Eagles will be tagged with $16.4MM in dead money.
Cedrick Wilson, WR (Saints). Two years, $5.75MM. The Saints are guaranteeing Wilson $2.85MM, ESPN.com’s Katherine Terrell notes. The second-generation NFL wideout will be due a $200K roster bonus in 2025; none of Wilson’s ’25 salary ($2.7MM) is guaranteed.
Jimmy Garoppolo, QB (Rams). One year, $3.18MM. Previously reported as including $4.5MM in base value, the Rams’ Garoppolo contract (via Ben Volin of the Boston Globe) contains $3.18MM in base pay.
Ben Bredeson, G (Buccaneers). One year, $3MM. Bredeson’s Bucs pact includes $1.75MM guaranteed, The Athletic’s Dan Duggan tweets.
DeVante Parker, WR (Eagles). One year, $1.21MM. The Patriots are paying most of Parker’s deal, with $3.19MM guaranteed remaining on his 2023 extension. The Eagles are not guaranteeing the former first-rounder anything, Volin tweets. The Pats will receive a $1.98MM cap credit if Parker plays the whole 2024 season.

Rams Sign QB Jimmy Garoppolo

March 20th, 2024 at 8:55am CST by Sam Robinson

MARCH 20: The Rams are giving Garoppolo a one-year deal that includes a $4.5MM base value, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. Incentives can move the value of this contract to $12MM, but that will likely depend on whether a Stafford injury gives Garoppolo an opportunity to make starts.

MARCH 15: Jimmy Garoppolo‘s free agency will not last long. Despite receiving a two-game PED suspension, the former 49ers and Raiders starter will land in a popular spot.

The Rams are signing the veteran to back up Matthew Stafford, per the NFL Network’s Peter Schrager and Mike Garafolo. Garoppolo closed last season as a backup but has extensive experience as a starter. Coming from the Kyle Shanahan offense will certainly help Garoppolo here as well. The 32-year-old passer agreed to a one-year deal.

By mid-September of the past six seasons, Garoppolo has been viewed as a starter. He signed a three-year, $72.75MM deal to rejoin Josh McDaniels, but the 10-year QB’s stock has nosedived since. Missing two games due to injury early in the season, Garoppolo wound up on the bench once the Raiders fired McDaniels. He served as Aidan O’Connell‘s backup during the season’s second half but incurred the PED ban early this offseason, giving the Raiders a way to avoid paying out the QB’s 2024 guarantees. Garoppolo became a post-June 1 cut earlier this week.

Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay use schemes derived from the Mike Shanahan-Gary Kubiak system, as both were on Mike Shanahan’s Washington staff in the 2010s. Tweaks have naturally occurred, but this stands to be an easier transition compared to Garoppolo landing in an entirely new offense. He appears all set to replace Carson Wentz as Stafford’s caddy.

The Rams turned to Wentz after a rough Brett Rypien start in Green Bay. Stafford missed much of the 2022 season due to injury but was only down for one game last year — a bounce-back slate for the cannon-armed starter. Wentz, who remained in free agency until November last year, is back on the market.

Garoppolo’s return to McDaniels’ system did not go well; he managed nine interceptions in six starts as Davante Adams fumed. Garoppolo was certainly much better under Shanahan, averaging 8.3 yards per attempt and guiding the team to two NFC championship games and Super Bowl LIV. QBR placed Garoppolo 16th in 2022 — prior to his broken foot introducing the NFL to Brock Purdy — and slotted him in 13th and 12th, respectively, in 2021 and 2019.

This will still be an interesting switch for Garoppolo, who faced the Rams many times as the 49ers’ starter. Garoppolo went 8-0 against Los Angeles in the regular season, but McVay’s team reversed the trend in the ’21 NFC decider.

After using John Wolford as his primary backup for four years, McVay provided an interesting chapter in Baker Mayfield‘s career. The five-game Rams cameo helped the former No. 1 pick finish the 2022 season on a better note, and McVay also went the veteran route with Wentz. This pattern will continue with Garoppolo, who played effectively when Trey Lance went down early in the ’22 season. Given Stafford’s run of injuries — maladies he has largely played through — Garoppolo will play an important role in L.A.

Rams QB Jimmy Garoppolo Discusses Two-Game Suspension

March 19th, 2024 at 8:26pm CST by Ben Levine

Jimmy Garoppolo is set to be the backup to Matthew Stafford next season, but the recent Rams acquisition won’t immediately start the season as the QB2. Garoppolo drew a two-game ban from the NFL for violating the league’s PED policy, keeping him off the active roster until Week 3.

The veteran officially inked his deal with the Rams today and met with reporters, where he admitted that he “messed up” the NFL’s Therapeutic Use Exemption policy. As Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic writes, the NFL allows players to get an exemption for banned substances, something Garoppolo apparently failed to do.

“That was … I hate to joke about it, but I just messed up the T.U.E. when I first got to Las Vegas,” the quarterback said (via Rodrigue). “… Bad timing, I guess.”

Garoppolo was released by the Raiders last week following a disappointing 2023 campaign. The veteran inked a three-year deal with the organization last offseason but was benched after tossing nine interceptions in six starts. While the 32-year-old won’t be in a position to start, he’s surely counting on better results in Los Angeles if he is pushed into the starting lineup.

Garoppolo had plenty of success playing under Kyle Shanahan, and the 49ers head coach joins Rams head coach Sean McVay in using offensive schemes derived from the Mike Shanahan-Gary Kubiak system. As Rodrigue points out, Garoppolo also has experience playing under Rams tight ends coach/pass game coordinator Nick Caley and offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur during his stints in New England and San Francisco.

The free agent acquisition understands the QB hierarchy in Los Angeles and isn’t expecting to be anything more than injury insurance, even when considering his familiarity with the offense. Instead, Garoppolo is looking forward to playing his role and returning to the field as soon as possible.

“I’m excited to start this new journey,” he said (via Rodrigue). “I don’t exactly know what is in store for me, ‘re-set,’ ‘re-invent,’ whatever you want to call it. I’m just excited to get back on the football field and start slinging it around with some new guys. I love football.”

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