It seems ESPN loves the Washington Commanders on Sunday mornings ahead of their games.
The four-letter network was at it again Sunday morning when Adam Schefter pushed a story written last week, saying San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo almost became a Washington Commander in the offseason until his shoulder injury wasn’t healing as fast as hoped.
Here’s an excerpt of last week’s story by Tim Keown and Nick Wagoner of ESPN:
According to multiple league sources, the Niners believed one of those teams — the Washington Commanders — was poised to become Garoppolo’s next NFL home. But that plan was scuttled soon after; Garoppolo’s shoulder wasn’t healing as he and his medical team hoped. After further consultation with doctors, Garoppolo and his representatives opted for surgery that set the beginning of training camp as a target date for a full recovery. By March 1, the plan became public knowledge, and eight days later the Commanders moved on, trading for Indianapolis quarterback Carson Wentz.
Now, here is Schefter’s tweet re-pushing the story.
The 49ers had the parameters of a trade agreement in place that would have sent Jimmy Garoppolo to the Commanders at this year's scouting combine, but the deal fell apart once the QB decided to have shoulder surgery, per source.https://t.co/DOWvPgZ41c
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 25, 2022
Why push this again only hours before Carson Wentz makes his first start against his former team? The timing is curious. Schefter made sure to include the Commanders in his tweet, rather than just saying the 49ers believed they had a trade in place.
JP Finlay of NBC Sports Washington reached out to the Commanders who said Wentz was always higher on their list:
Checked w team sources on Jimmy G – yes they checked on him but were also aware of the shoulder. Had Wentz higher on list anyway.
— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) September 25, 2022
Through two games, the Commanders are certainly happy they chose to go with Wentz. Garoppolo is back in the starting lineup for the 49ers after Trey Lance was lost for the season last week.
