The Rams found their safety net for quarterback Matthew Stafford on Friday, agreeing to terms with free agent Jimmy Garoppolo, a source confirmed.
The deal, reported by NFL Network to be for one year, brings the Rams’ former NFC West rival to Los Angeles to back up Stafford.
Garoppolo, 32, gives the Rams a backup quarterback with extensive starter experience. He played six seasons with the San Francisco 49ers under Kyle Shanahan. Given Shanahan and Rams head coach Sean McVay’s deep connections dating to their days together in Washington, this gives Garoppolo deep experience in McVay’s offense and should allow him to get up to speed quickly.
The Rams said backup quarterback was an offseason priority. Carson Wentz, signed midseason after a rocky performance by Brett Rypien in Stafford’s absence, was effective for the Rams in the Week 18 win over the Commanders. But Wentz is a free agent, and the Rams still do not have a definitive answer on whether Stetson Bennett IV will be back in 2024 after missing his entire rookie season on the non-football injury list.
With a career 67.4% completion rate and 94-51 touchdown-to-interception ratio, Garoppolo’s career has been frequently impacted by injuries after signing a $137.5 million contract in 2018. He tore his ACL in Week 3 of that season. He returned to play in every game of the 2019 campaign while leading the 49ers to Super Bowl LIV, in which he completed 20 of 31 passes for 219 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in a 31-20 loss.
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He missed 10 of 16 games in 2020 due to a high ankle sprain, then in 2022 lost his starting job to second-year player Trey Lance. When Lance suffered a season-ending knee injury, Garoppolo went on to start 11 games before a foot injury ended his season. Rookie Brock Purdy led the 49ers to the NFC title game, opening the door for Garoppolo to leave as a free agent to the Las Vegas Raiders on a three-year deal.
But his Vegas tenure came to a quick end, as he was benched following a 3-5 start. The Raiders released Garoppolo on Wednesday, a month after he was suspended two games for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy. Garoppolo will serve that suspension to begin the 2024 season.