Jimmy Garoppolo Salary & Contract Information
Jimmy Garoppolo, who will attempt to lead the San Francisco 49ers to victory in Super Bowl LIV today, makes about $27.5 million per year. That’s pretty good money, but he doesn’t even crack the top 10 among the richest NFL players. Additionally, he isn’t even the richest NFL quarterback, not by a long shot. The highest-paid NFL player is quarterback Russell Wilson, whose salary is about $70 million per year — nearly three times what Garoppolo makes.
His contract, like just about all NFL contracts, is a bit more complex than just a simple amount of money to be paid per year.
Jimmy Garoppolo Has Been A Top-Tier NFL Quarterback For Six Seasons
Garoppolo was drafted in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft, with the 62nd pick overall. Being a second-round pick and coming from a second-tier college program (Eastern Illinois), his initial contract was peanuts compared to his current one. Garoppolo’s first NFL contract was a four-year deal worth $3,483,898 ($1,103,744 guaranteed) with an $853,744 signing bonus.
Once his first contract was complete, and Garoppolo had built up a resume as a top-tier NFL quarterback, he was in a position to negotiate for more money. And negotiate for more money he did.
According to Spotrac, Garoppolo is in the third year of a five-year contract, worth approximately $27.5 million per year.
Garoppolo’s Contract Is, Like Many NFL Contracts, Somewhat Complicated
Garoppolo’s contract is worth $137.5 million over five years.
His base salary, which is effectively just a starting point for the myriad ways in which he collects a paycheck, was $6.2 million in his first year and $17.2 million in 2019. It will be worth $23.8 million in 2020, $24.1 million in 2021, and $24.2 million in 2022.
It’s that base salary that would be docked should Garoppolo have to miss a game via suspension. NFL players’ base salaries are paid in 17 installments over the course of the season. If a player is suspended, he loses 1/17th of base pay for each game missed. That means that, should Garoppolo be suspended in the 2020 season, he will lose $1.4 million per game missed.
Additionally, Garoppolo earned a signing bonus of $7 million when he penned the contract. His signing bonus, like those of many NFL players, was prorated over the course of the contract, which some NFL teams do as a hedge against exceeding the salary cap. According to the NFL’s contract terms glossary, however, most players collect their signing bonus, prorated or not, within 12-18 months of the ink drying on the contract.
Garoppolo’s contract also includes a roster bonus of $800,000 per year. According to the NFL, a roster bonus is something of a tool that players can use in future contract negotiations. It’s an amount of money that is to be paid at a certain point during the season for remaining on the roster. If the team wanted to trade the player — in this case, Garoppolo — they would have to do so before the date the roster bonus is due, else they’d be paying that money to a player who is no longer playing for the team.
His contract also includes a $600,000 workout bonus per year; that’s an amount of money paid if the player attends a certain percentage of offseason workouts.
The Majority Of His Contract Is Guaranteed
Of the $137.5 million Garoppolo will be paid in his contact, $74.1 million is guaranteed. That means, failing a major personal conduct issue or other unforeseen reason that would cause the 49ers to end his contract early, he’ll earn that much over the course of his contract, regardless of injuries or other issues.
