Jimmy Garoppolo Considers Retirement After Backing Up Matthew Stafford With Los Angeles Rams

Free agent quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is considering retirement, according to sources cited by NFL Network and reported by ESPN on Monday.

“New Jimmy Garoppolo Rumors Reveal NFL Retirement Buzz Amid 2026 Free Agency Jimmy Garoppolo may be calling it a career”

Bleacher Report

ESPN says Garoppolo, 34, “is considering retirement, sources told NFL Network on Monday,” and notes he “has spent the past two seasons with the Los Angeles Rams, backing up quarterback Matthew Stafford.”

Bleacher Report

The ESPN report adds that Garoppolo was “still considered the top option to fill that role for the 2026 season,” and it points to the NFL’s annual meeting last month where coach Sean McVay said the Rams were considering Garoppolo and Kirk Cousins for Stafford’s backup role.

ESPN also states that Cousins “has since signed with the Las Vegas Raiders,” leaving Garoppolo as the remaining veteran option in the conversation.

In the 2025 season, ESPN says Garoppolo “appeared in three games” and “did not attempt a pass behind a healthy Stafford,” while it describes his 2024 start after the Rams clinched the NFC West.

In that 2024 finale, ESPN reports Garoppolo “completed 27 of 41 passes for 334 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.”

ESPN’s broader career accounting says Garoppolo has completed “67.4% of his passes for 15,828 yards with 96 touchdowns and 52 interceptions” across “85 games over 12 seasons.”

Multiple outlets frame Garoppolo’s retirement consideration as a direct pressure point for the Los Angeles Rams’ quarterback depth heading into the 2026 season.

Sports Illustrated reports that “Rams free agent quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is considering retirement” and says he “was considered the team’s top backup option,” but that the Rams “may need to shift to the draft.”

ESPN

Sports Illustrated adds that Garoppolo “remained unsigned throughout the offseason,” and it describes the Rams’ earlier interest in Kirk Cousins before Cousins “ultimately decided to sign with the Las Vegas Raiders.”

USA Today similarly connects the decision to the Rams’ roster, writing that Garoppolo “is mulling retirement” and that “the Rams may need to consider adding a replacement for him as they look to remain a contender during the twilight of the 38-year-old Stafford's career.”

USA Today also states that “The Rams currently have just two quarterbacks on their 90-man roster: Stafford and 2023 fourth-round pick Stetson Bennett IV,” and it emphasizes that it “isn't clear whether Los Angeles would trust Bennett – who has never played an NFL snap – to be its top backup for the 2026 NFL season.”

The Sports Illustrated report says the Rams “almost have to take a quarterback in the draft” because of Garoppolo’s uncertain future, and it ties that to Stafford’s contract timeline by noting “2026 is the final year of Stafford's deal.”

ESPN’s account of Garoppolo’s on-field usage reinforces the urgency, noting he “did not attempt a pass last season” and that his 2024 start produced “334 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.”

Beyond the Rams’ immediate needs, the reports place Garoppolo’s retirement consideration within a longer career arc marked by multiple teams, contract turns, and injuries.

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FantasyPros

ESPN traces Garoppolo’s early path from the New England Patriots, saying New England “drafted him in 2014 to back up Tom Brady,” and it notes that in 2017 “the Patriots traded Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers.”

ESPN then says Garoppolo “spent the 2023 season with the Raiders before he was released the next offseason,” while New York Post adds that the quarterback’s career included a “three-year, $67.5 million free-agent deal with the Raiders” that “saw him lose the starting job just eight weeks into the 2023 season and led to his release ahead of the 2024 season.”

The New York Post also includes a detail about a suspension, stating he “was suspended the first two games for a PED ban,” before landing in Los Angeles behind Matthew Stafford.

NFL Rumors provides a different contract figure for the Raiders, writing that “The Raiders gave Garoppolo a three-year, $72.75MM contract,” and it says he “ultimately benched him following Josh McDaniels‘ firing.”

Heavy, another outlet, quotes Rapoport’s framing and says, “Jimmy G, who has started 64 games during a 12-year career, has made over $156M in all. He is 34 and is mulling a final decision.”

Across the coverage, the retirement question is repeatedly tied to whether Garoppolo will accept a backup role, with NBC Sports stating he “has to decide whether he’s interested in playing for what would be a 13th NFL season.”

Several reports connect Garoppolo’s potential retirement to specific draft and roster decisions, including how the Rams might handle the quarterback position if they do not re-sign him.

NFL Rumors says “The Rams are interested in re-signing Jimmy Garoppolo to be their backup quarterback for a third straight season,” and it adds that “Ian Rapoport indicates he is the team’s top choice to serve as QB2,” while also emphasizing that Garoppolo “has not committed to playing a 13th NFL season.”

NBC Sports

It then describes how Arizona’s pursuit could have been affected by Garoppolo’s situation, stating that “Talks hit a snag, leading the Cards to pivot to Gardner Minshew,” and it notes that “Arizona ended up with Minshew on a one-year, $5.75MM pact.”

Sports Illustrated and ESPN’s framing both point toward the draft as the likely solution if Garoppolo does not return, with Sports Illustrated saying the Rams “may need to shift to the draft” and that “Garoppolo remaining unsigned this close to the draft has always made the Rams a potential quarterback landing spot.”

Sports Illustrated also discusses potential targets, saying “The Rams have met with Nussmeier before the draft, flying in to meet with the LSU quarterback,” and it adds that “It’s possible that the Rams could take Ty Simpson, but that type of move would require a trade back.”

The same report references a draft-day pivot by citing ESPN’s Adam Schefter, stating “the Rams were initially considering Simpson with the 29th overall pick before trading it away for Trent McDuffie.”

USA Today, meanwhile, lists developmental possibilities by saying “players like Garrett Nussmeier, Drew Allar and Carson Beck” could be on Los Angeles’ radar.

The coverage diverges not only on numbers and contract details, but also on how the retirement possibility is characterized and what it implies for the Rams’ next steps.

“Earlier this month, free-agent quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was reportedly “weighing a few options”

NBC Sports

ESPN presents the retirement consideration as a sourced development tied to NFL Network and the Rams’ backup role, stating “sources told NFL Network on Monday” and that Garoppolo “was still considered the top option to fill that role for the 2026 season.”

New York Post

USA Today frames the same development as a roster consequence, writing that “the Rams may need to consider adding a replacement for him” and emphasizing the uncertainty around Stetson Bennett by noting “who has never played an NFL snap.”

Sports Illustrated treats the retirement consideration as a forcing function for the draft, saying “the Rams almost have to take a quarterback in the draft” and that “Depending on how the Rams address the situation, it will directly impact their plans post-Stafford.”

New York Post, by contrast, uses more dramatic language, calling it a “shocking free agency twist” and describing Garoppolo’s career as “a long, strange career” that began as “the supposed heir apparent to Tom Brady.”

Heavy quotes Rapoport directly and adds a financial and career framing, stating “Jimmy G, who has started 64 games during a 12-year career, has made over $156M in all,” while NBC Sports emphasizes the decision point by saying Garoppolo “has to decide whether he’s interested in playing for what would be a 13th NFL season.”

Even within the same retirement story, NFL Rumors introduces a different Raiders contract number—“three-year, $72.75MM”—and ties it to Josh McDaniels’ firing, while ESPN and USA Today focus more on Garoppolo’s on-field role behind Matthew Stafford.