Jimmy Garoppolo is surprised he is still a 49er, too.

The most heavily discussed backup quarterback in the league, who lost his job to Trey Lance and, by all accounts, was set to play elsewhere this season, has not been traded. The 49ers have not found the right match, Garoppolo has not demanded a release, and so the two came together Monday to rework his contract into a one-year deal that fully guarantees $6.5 million as a base salary.

Garoppolo, speaking publicly for the first time to Bay Area media since Feb. 1, is as stunned as you are.

“[Returning] really wasn’t on my mind to be completely honest,” Garoppolo told reporters Thursday in Santa Clara, Calif., after a 49ers practice. “I was training out here, I had to be here, so I was here for that reason. I was just trying to get my body right, get my shoulder right. I felt very confident out there.

“I knew I was ready to roll, I just needed to figure out where it was. And things kind of fell into place these last couple days.”

Garoppolo said “there was a lot of discussions with other teams,” though he did not reveal those teams’ identities. Perhaps the 49ers would have found a trade partner if not for an early-in-the-offseason right shoulder surgery that Garoppolo wanted to avoid, but he waited three or four weeks before seeing it was unavoidable.

Garoppolo resumed throwing in late June and said his shoulder feels better every day, but apparently teams were not willing to send draft picks San Francisco’s way for a flier on a polarizing quarterback coming off shoulder surgery.

After four and a half seasons as the undisputed starter, Garoppolo could have muddied the situation by demanding a release that would have allowed him to find a quarterback competition elsewhere, forcing a move from the 49ers, who wouldn’t want a disgruntled quarterback with the team.

He didn’t, saying he does not want to “ruffle feathers.”

“There was a thought of that at one point — trust me there was,” the 30-year-old said of asking for his release. “But that came and went.”

It is still possible that another quarterback goes down and Garoppolo winds up with another team. But after a strange offseason, he is back where he did not expect to be, though now he will be holding the clipboard.

“I think things worked out for the best,” Garoppolo said.