Kyle Shanahan: It was simply "common sense" to rule out Jimmy Garoppolo's return after last season
Soon after the 49ers' loss to the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game, coach Kyle Shanahan was matter of fact when asked if he envisioned a scenario where Jimmy Garoppolo could return.
"No,” Shanahan answered Feb. 1. “I don’t see any scenario of that.”
Garoppolo said before a joint practice between his new team, the Raiders, and his old team that "someone probably texted me" about Shanahan's brusque answer. It sounds as if Garoppolo was at least slightly bothered by it.
“I mean, we’re all people,” Garoppolo told Mike Silver of the San Francisco Chronicle. “You hear it, things like that. I just try to make the best of the situation. We’ve all been through hard things. In life, things are going to happen that don’t go your way, and you’ve just got to make the best of it.
Garoppolo went on to sign with the Raiders in free agency as the 49ers officially turned over the starting job to Brock Purdy
On Thursday, Shanahan clarified his postseason comment about Garoppolo's future in San Francisco.
“I think Jimmy was unbelievable for us,” Shanahan said, via Jennifer Lee Chan of NBCSportsBayArea.com. “He won lots of games. I think that was a simple question. Is there a scenario where he’ll be back here next year, and I gave a common-sense answer: ‘No.'” I think that was a little overblown, on trying to be a shot at him or anything. We knew he wasn’t going to be coming back from his standpoint or ours, financially and everything.
“I think he was the best quarterback here in about 20 years since Steve Young. He has an unbelievable record and every time he played and stayed healthy we were in the Super Bowl of the NFC Championship Game.”
Garoppolo went 38-17 in the regular season in six years with the 49ers, throwing for 13,599 and 82 touchdowns. He led them to two NFC Championship Games and a Super Bowl as the starting quarterback but did not return in time to help them in last season's NFC Championship Game loss to the Eagles.
