Jimmy Garoppolo explains what ‘sealed the deal’ joining Rams, admits he ‘messed up’ with two-game suspension

Jimmy G is heading back to the NFC West. The Los Angeles Rams signed Jimmy Garoppolo to a one-year deal, where he will join forces with Sean McVay, and likely serve as the backup quarterback for Matthew Stafford. That team announced the deal Tuesday as the veteran met with the media. 

Garoppolo will not be able to play immediately in 2024 as he has been suspended for the first two games of the regular season for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy. ESPN reported Garoppolo’s violation was related to his “using a prescribed medication without having a valid Therapeutic Use Exemption.” He confirmed that during his first presser as a member of the Rams, acknowledging that he “messed up” the exemption when he first arrived in Las Vegas as a member of the Raiders. 

“That was … I hate to joke about it, but I just messed up the T.U.E. when I first got to Las Vegas. … Bad timing, I guess,” Garoppolo said, via The Athletic. 

Garoppolo can participate in all the of the Rams offseason activities, but will be banned from the facility for the first two weeks of the regular season. 

“Hopefully we’ll get some dubs and start off 2-0 and keep things moving,” he said, via ESPN. “But it’s just one of those situations. It is what it is. You got to deal with it and just keep moving on and stay positive.”

Garoppolo was released by the Raiders last week, just one year into the three-year, $67.5 million deal he signed last offseason. Garoppolo went 3-3 as the starter for Vegas before being benched for rookie Aidan O’Connell. Garoppolo threw for 1,205 yards, seven touchdowns and nine interceptions in seven total games played. Now, he’ll align himself behind Stafford on the QB depth chart and under head coach Sean McVay, who he noted “really sealed the deal” with him signing with Los Angeles. 

“Obviously good players all around,” Garoppolo said. “That’s a big part of it. Talking to Sean on the phone, him just running me through offense and things that he had in mind, it really became appetizing. And I know a lot of the coaches here, so a lot of familiarity in that aspect. And then having played against the Rams a lot in my career, I’ve seen a lot of good things from L.A.”

While he was originally selected in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots, Garoppolo will most likely be remembered as the quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers from 2017-22. Jimmy G found his way over to The Bay via trade in 2017, and won each of his first five starts for San Francisco. A torn ACL stole the 2018 campaign from him, but Garoppolo rebounded to go 13-3 for the 49ers in 2019, and took San Francisco to Super Bowl LIV, where it eventually fell to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

In 2022, Garoppolo was replaced by former No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance, who suffered a season-ending broken ankle in Week 2. Jimmy G got his job back briefly, but suffered a foot injury in Week 13 that sparked Brock Purdy’s meteoric rise. 

Now, it appears Garoppolo has accepted his new role as a backup.