Artist and San Francisco 49ers fan Rita Carvalho’s nearly yearlong project of drawing Jimmy Garoppolo every day “until he gets traded” finally came to an end on Monday.
Though “Jimmy G.” didn’t technically get traded, Garoppolo and the Las Vegas Raiders did agree to a three-year, $67.5 million deal Monday afternoon, meaning that the 31-year-old will leave the Bay Area after six seasons with the team.
Carvalho’s work started almost exactly one year ago, in March 2022, when it seemed like a near certainty that Garoppolo would depart the 49ers. Instead, the former New England Patriots signal-caller stayed with San Francisco for another year on a restructured contract and agreed to be Trey Lance’s backup entering last season.
After Lance went down with a season-ending injury in Week 2, Garoppolo took over and ended up leading the quarterback committee in games and games started (11 and 10), completion percentage (67.2%), passing yards (2,437), and passing touchdowns (16), while throwing only four interceptions and posting a 7-3 record. The 2014 second-round pick suffered a foot injury in Week 13, and rookie Brock Purdy was the starter the rest of the way.
In July, per ESPN’s Nick Wagoner, Garoppolo told an ABC television affiliate in San Francisco that he’d seen the drawings and enjoyed them.
“Rita, I really appreciate it,” Garoppolo said. “It’s really cool, just the uniqueness to it. We’ll see how many more you’ve got to draw.”
