The 49ers just can’t quit Jimmy Garoppolo, or, for that matter, their former Bay Area neighbor, the Raiders.
This summer’s round of joint practices is expected to take the 49ers to Las Vegas, where the Raiders would play host with Garoppolo as their new quarterback, according to a league source.
Plans are not yet finalized but a 49ers-Raiders date is in the works. Schedules for the preseason and regular season aren’t expected to come out until May.
The 49ers last visited the Raiders for training camp practices in 2009 in Napa, where JaMarcus Russell and Bruce Gradkowski were the Raiders’ interception-delivering QBs.
This round of joint practices is expected to coincide with a preseason game at Allegiant Stadium, where the 49ers won an overtime thriller Jan. 1 in their first game in Las Vegas. The Athletic’s Vic Tafur was first to report Monday night on the joint practices.
Seeing Garoppolo in the Silver & Black won’t be as surreal as last summer’s scene. That’s when the 49ers relegated him to a side field during training camp, so he could rehabilitate his throwing shoulder and bide time until he accepted a pay cut to remain on the roster.
After 5 ½ seasons with the 49ers, Garoppolo agreed to join the Raiders two weeks ago when free agency opened (three years, $72.8 million).
Coach Kyle Shanahan praised Garoppolo’s 49ers tenure when asked about it Tuesday at the annual league meeting.
“It was extremely successful. Look at his record,” Shanahan said of Garoppolo’s 42-19 overall tenure as a 49ers starter. “He had a hard time staying healthy with us. The one year he did stay healthy, he took us to the Super Bowl. The next year he stayed the most healthy (2021), we went to the NFC Championship.
“Jimmy played at an extremely high level for us and allowed us to win a lot of games, and he’s a very good quarterback.”
Any conversations between the QB and coach since he left for Vegas?
“That would have to be impossible,” Shanahan said with a wry smile. “You have to run into Jimmy to have a conversation with him, for anybody, that’s not just me.”
Since Shanahan took over as the 49ers’ coach in 2017, they’ve routinely held joint practices with another team in training camp, barring 2020 amid the COVID pandemic. The 49ers hosted the Denver Broncos in 2017, then hit the road for joint practices at the Houston Texans (2018), the Denver Broncos (2019), the Los Angeles Chargers (2022) and the Minnesota Vikings (2022).
