Lance has surgery as Niners hand offense to Garoppolo
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Trey Lance underwent season-ending surgery on his broken right ankle Monday, leaving the San Francisco 49ers to go ahead with the rest of the 2022 season with former starter Jimmy Garoppolo back in the helm.
Lance got hurt in the first quarter of San Francisco's 27-7 win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday when he kept the ball on a run play up the middle.
The Niners said Lance had surgery Monday to repair a broken bone and ligament disruption. Team physician Dr. Tim McAdams said he's confident Lance will recover completely in time for a full return next season.
But for now, the Niners (1-1) are in Garoppolo's hands and they feel very fortunate they were able to keep their former starter, a Rolling Meadows High School grad, on a reduced contract this season in case something happened to Lance.
"I don't want to downplay what happened to Trey, because we really do feel for him, but this is why you buy insurance," fullback Kyle Juszczyk said. "You don't want to have to use it, but Jimmy was kind of our insurance policy."
Instead of the Lance injury derailing a season for a team that believes it can contend for the Super Bowl, it just puts the Niners back where they were last year when Garoppolo helped them get to the NFC title game with Lance as the backup.
San Francisco planned to trade Garoppolo this offseason, but was unable to after he underwent shoulder surgery in March.
Garoppolo remained on the roster but didn't practice with the team at all during training camp, throwing on his own on a side field, before agreeing to return as a backup on a reduced contract.
Instead of the nonguaranteed $24.2 million base salary Garoppolo was owed this season, he will get a $6.5 million fully guaranteed base salary, $500,000 in roster bonuses and the chance to make nearly $9 million more in playing time bonuses.
Garoppolo made $350,000 in bonuses Sunday for playing at least 25% of the snaps and the Niners winning the game.
"It definitely turns out to be a very smart move for us," defensive end Nick Bosa said. "The fact that we have a quarterback who's done so much for this organization already and has all the experience that he has, and the fact that we get him back, is very big for our team. We're excited for him, but obviously we're hurting for Trey."
Garoppolo threw a 38-yard TD pass to Ross Dwelley on his first full drive and finished 12 for 21 for 154 yards with no turnovers.
The offense changed a little this offseason as it was geared toward Lance, but Garoppolo didn't take long to feel comfortable in it.
"It just felt good," he said. "We were talking earlier, it kind of felt like 2017, where you just go out throwing, make plays, that's what I like to do. It's different than what we usually do around here, but sometimes you need to do that."