Since tearing his ACL back in late September, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has continued to make progress in his recovery from the injury that has him on track to be back on the field next season.

There has been more encouraging development to emerge on this front as head coach Kyle Shanahan voiced on Monday that there is a strong chance that Garoppolo will be back in the mix to participate in the offseason program next May-June, according to Nick Wagoner of ESPN.

This timetable will put him in at the early end of the typical recovery point from that type of injury as has normally taken anywhere between nine months to a year to fully heal. There isn't any rush at this point to get him back on the field, but that is a target window for him to be back toward working to get the rust off ahead of next season.

At the same time, the 49ers have plenty of invested in Garoppolo to be their long-term answer under center after inking him to a five-year, $137.5 million deal last offseason. The hope is that he can be the franchise cornerstone at the position that lifts the 49ers to much success behind his steady play. Garoppolo had been working toward that in his first three games played this year prior to suffering the torn ACL as he had thrown for 718 yards on a 59.6 percent completion rate along with five touchdowns to three interceptions and a 90.0 passer rating.

It is clearly an ongoing process that the 49ers will continue to feel their way through and monitor his health over the next several months. The fact that he could be working out in May-June is an encouraging sign that he is well on his way toward being ready long ahead of the 2018 season.