If it wasn't clear by head coach Kyle Shanahan's comments on February 1 that the Jimmy Garoppolo era with the San Francisco 49ers was over, general manager John Lynch made it clear today. Lynch, speaking with reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine, spoke about the 49ers quarterback and starter of the past five-and-a-half years as if both sides had already moved on.
Garoppolo is scheduled to become a free agent on March 15. The 49ers cannot use the franchise tag on him. It is unlikely that they would, even if they wanted to.
"First of all, with Jimmy, Jimmy has been tremendous for us," Lynch said. "In our first year, at the end of the year, we do a trade, and Jimmy comes in, lights it up. And a lot of people want to talk about what we didn't accomplish with him. What I know is we won a lot of football games with Jimmy. We admire his toughness. We admire the teammate that he was.
"I know everyone wants to talk about some discourse and all that, but I do believe that it's probably run its course. But I think we leave with nothing but fond memories for Jimmy, and Jimmy is going to go play good football for someone."
Garoppolo completed 67.2 percent of his passes for 2,437 yards with 16 touchdowns and four interceptions through 11 game appearances and 10 starts with the 49ers last season, per Pro Football Reference.
Garoppolo is coming off a broken foot sustained on December 4. He is about to hit free agency for the first time in his career and is expected to be fully recovered in time for offseason activities.