Following his release from the Rams, Jimmy Garoppolo spent the offseason letting retirement rumors swirl. But after Jaxson Dart suffered severe knee damage in Week 2, a veteran insurance policy became an urgent necessity for the New York Giants. While Garoppolo’s career was once viewed through a starter’s lens, stepping into a crucial backup role offers him a compelling next chapter. And guess what? Insider Josina Anderson revealed that Garoppolo has no intention of hanging up his cleats.

“I’m ready to play, in the right situation,” Garoppolo told her on a phone call.

The announcement comes just in time after the first two weeks of the 2026 season were filled with a string of major and minor injuries, headlined by Jaxson Dart getting ruled out for the season. Dart suffered a serious knee injury in Week 2 after a hit from Los Angeles Rams defenders Byron Young and Josaiah Stewart.

Caught in a brutal sandwich tackle, the second-year quarterback clutched his left knee in visible agony before limping into the blue medical tent, eventually disappearing down the tunnel toward the locker room. Though initial X-rays came back negative and New York temporarily held out hope, first listing him as questionable before officially ruling him out early in the third quarter, early optimism quickly dissolved.

Initial reports suggested Dart had dodged a career-altering disaster, framing the injury as a short-term setback. However, detailed follow-up scans revealed a far grim reality. Sources told NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo that Dart sustained severe structural damage, including tears to his MCL, PCL, and meniscus. The diagnosis requires immediate, season-ending surgery, abruptly halting what was expected to be a crucial breakout year for the young franchise cornerstone.

Veteran Jameis Winston has stepped in as the starter, with Jake Haener serving as his primary backup, including this week’s game against the Tennessee Titans. As much as people love Jameis Winston, he can also be a complete mystery playing quarterback. You never know if he’s going to be great or bad. When Winston replaced Dart against the Rams, he went 11-of-27 for 111 yards with an interception. His skill set doesn’t include the same running ability as Dart. But coach John Harbaugh said it’s more a “lane change as opposed to changing direction.”

Behind him, Haener remains a very inexperienced quarterback who has played only eight games so far. This is where Garoppolo comes in. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo mentioned him directly on “Big Day with Peter Schrager” this week, saying Garoppolo “has been working out” and that retirement “is not the way he’d want to go,” while noting he’d be part of the broader conversation around available veteran arms.

The 34-year-old enters this stretch of free agency with one of the more accomplished résumés still unattached to a roster. A second-round pick of the New England Patriots in 2014, Garoppolo won two Super Bowl rings as Tom Brady’s backup before a 2017 trade sent him to the San Francisco 49ers, where he led the team to a Super Bowl appearance as the starter.

He spent the past two seasons backing up Matthew Stafford with the Los Angeles Rams before being released this offseason. He has been in the league for the past 12 years and has thrown for 15,828 yards and scored 96 touchdowns.

It is almost impossible to evaluate Garoppolo’s career without feeling a sense of unfinished business. Few quarterbacks ever reach a Super Bowl, let alone win rings as a backup and lead a team to a Big Game appearance as a starter. By those metrics, Garoppolo’s career has been a success, just not a historically defining one. Neither a legendary superstar nor a bust, he has comfortably occupied the middle ground of modern NFL starting talent.

The primary culprit keeping him from true stardom? An unrelenting, ill-timed streak of severe injuries:

• 2016 (Patriots): Sidelined by an AC joint sprain right as he was thriving during Tom Brady’s four-game suspension.
• 2018 (49ers): Suffered a season-ending ACL tear in Week 3, shortly after signing a then-record $137.5 million extension.
• 2020 (49ers): Battles with a severe Grade 3 high ankle sprain derailed most of his follow-up campaign to his Super Bowl LIV run.
• 2022 (49ers): Fractured his foot after reclaiming the starting job from Trey Lance, abruptly ending his tenure in San Francisco.

That injury history presents a durability concern that a reeling Giants roster can ill afford. However, when healthy, Garoppolo’s win-loss record as a starter speaks for itself. For New York, bringing in a quarterback with that depth of big-game experience provides Jameis Winston and the rest of the QB room with a genuine safety net, and perhaps gives Garoppolo the exact revival opportunity he’s been waiting for. According to The New York Post’s Ryan Dunleavy, the Giants’ interest is mutual, with Garoppolo emerging as a prime candidate for New York.