49ers' 2024 meetings with the Rams will have extra intrigue after Los Angeles' fascinating quarterback move
The San Francisco 49ers had something of a reunion with Jimmy Garoppolo last August when they held joint practices with the Las Vegas Raiders ahead of a preseason game. In 2024, they can expect to see a lot more of the quarterback with whom they almost won a Super Bowl. Having been released by the […]
The San Francisco 49ers had something of a reunion with Jimmy Garoppolo last August when they held joint practices with the Las Vegas Raiders ahead of a preseason game.
In 2024, they can expect to see a lot more of the quarterback with whom they almost won a Super Bowl.
Having been released by the Raiders, Garoppolo, per Mike Garafolo and Peter Schrager of NFL Network, has agreed a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Rams.
It means the man who was seven minutes away from winning the Super Bowl with the Niners in 2020 will now face them twice a year as a member of the team that is, at least on paper, best positioned to compete with the them in the NFC West.
Garoppolo, of course, will not be the starter for the Rams. He will back up starter Matthew Stafford.
That in itself will be a strange image for 49ers fans to behold, Garoppolo having been the quarterback for eight of San Francisco's nine successive regular-season wins over the Rams, a streak that ended with the Niners defeat in a meaningless Week 18 last season.
Garoppolo was also the quarterback when the 49ers lost the NFC Championship Game to Stafford and the Rams at the end of the 2021 season, San Francisco blowing a 10-point fourth-quarter lead at SoFi Stadium.
Even with Garoppolo having been away from the Niners for a full season, him being on the opposite sideline for a pair of rivalry games that will be expected to decide the NFC West will be a bizarre sight from a 49ers perspective.
Though Aaron Donald's retirement will take away from the 49ers' games with the Rams next season, the return to prominence for Los Angeles in what was expected to be a transitional 2023 season should make games between these two historic rivals appointment viewing. While he won't be involved unless there's an injury, Garoppolo's presence in a Rams uniform will add another layer of intrigue to enjoy.
