Prior to signing a $137.5 million dollar contract, Jimmy Garoppolo wasn’t always a household name. The Illinois native attended Eastern Illinois University and broke the school’s pass completions record, which was previously held by retired Dallas Cowboys quarterback, Tony Romo.

As a freshman, Garoppolo started 8 games, passing for 1,639 yards and 14 touchdowns and earned All Ohio Valley Newcomer Team honors. From then on, he started in every game for the remainder of his college career.

Aside from surpassing Romo’s record, Garoppolo received several other merits his senior season. His coach at the time, Dino Babers, ran a ‘no-huddle offense’ in which Garoppolo thrived in. For his success, he was awarded the Walter Payton Award, given to the most offensive player in the Division 1 Football Subdivision, the 2013-2014 Ohio Valley Conference’s Male Athlete of the Year, and the 2013 College Football Performance FCS National Quarterback of the Year.

Garoppolo’s college years caught the attention of many in the National Football League, including the New England Patriots’ front office and Coach Belichick. As one of the better prospects at his position in the 2014 NFL Draft, Garoppolo was drafted in the 2nd round as the 62nd pick by the Patriots. He fulfilled the Patriot’s void in the backup quarterback position. For the first two years, he played in 6 games (2014) and 5 games (2015), respectively. In the beginning of the 2016 season, he started the first 2 games after Brady was suspended for deflategate, before suffering an ACL injury in week two.

Garoppolo threw 24/33 for 264 yards in week one and threw 234 yards and three touchdowns before his injury.

Following the Patriots’ Super Bowl win over the Atlanta Falcons, trade rumors began to surface about Garoppolo and in the midst of the 2017 season (October 2017), he was traded to the San Francisco 49ers in return for a second-round draft pick in the 2018 draft.

Garoppolo started in 5 of the 49ers’ games this past season and played exceptionally well. His success on the field led the organization to offer him a 5-year contract for $137.5 million ($27.5 million per season), making him the highest paid quarterback in the league.

The 49ers as an organization are not strangers to signing quarterbacks for large contracts. They signed Colin Kaepernick to a similar deal in 2014 for $126 million dollars over 7 years.

Prior to signing Garoppolo, the 49ers’ were 1-10 with Kaepernick as their starting quarterback. Garoppolo started, and won, the next five 49ers' games and had similar stats to those of Kaepernick’s entire season. Due to his caliber of play and demonstrations of protest, most NFL franchises saw Kaepernick as a risk instead of an asset to their team.

San Francisco’s first-year general manager and head coach, John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan, were fairly pleased with Garoppolo’s play nearing the end of the season, thus guiding their decision to offer him a multi-year contract.

Shanahan had his eyes on Garoppolo far before he offered him a contract. As the Offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns nearing the 2014 Draft, Shanahan noted Garoppolo as one of his standouts.

"It's been a great deal for him I'm sure in the situation he is, being behind Tom [Brady], seeing how they do it,'' said Shanahan at the time. "I'm sure when he does get his opportunity whether it's earlier this year in the two games he played or possibly next year, who knows what will happen -- I'm sure he'll be ready."

Although the Browns didn’t end up drafting Shanahan’s favorite, he kept Garoppolo’s name in mind further down the line. Following one season, he departed from Cleveland and became the Offensive Coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons for a year before landing the San Francisco head coaching job.

Towards the latter part of the 2017 season, the 49er’s began playing better, according to Shanahan.

“Jimmy was a big part of that. The guys around him played totally different at that time than they did earlier in the year, which definitely helped Jimmy. And it was enough, surprisingly, I didn’t think it would be, but what we had in those five games, I felt very confident about making a commitment to keep him here long-term.”