Jimmy Garoppolo took the money and ran.
Garoppolo signed a five-year, $137.5 million contract extension with the 49ers in February 2018, an audacious deal considering the quarterback had started just seven NFL games to that point.
And, after appearing at a press conference to officially announce the extension, Garoppolo disappeared.
“Once he left that press conference, nobody heard from him for weeks and weeks,” a member of that 49ers coaching staff told the San Francisco Chronicle. “He didn’t return calls, he didn’t return texts — he basically just vanished. And we were looking at each other going, ‘What just happened?’”
The vanishing act foreboded the rest of Garoppolo’s tenure in San Francisco. Though the 49ers made the playoffs twice — including a Super Bowl appearance in 2020 and an NFC Championship loss to the Rams in January — with Garoppolo at the helm, he struggled with consistency and accuracy, failing to live up to the lofty expectations bestowed upon him.
Realizing that Garoppolo would not be a viable long-term solution, San Francisco traded up to draft his eventual heir, Trey Lance, with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Lance has been given starting quarterback job ahead of the 2022 season, leaving Garoppolo absent again — this time as he awaits the 49ers to find a suitable trade partner.