There are plenty of reasons why the Las Vegas Raiders needed to move on from Josh McDaniels, but there’s no question that near the top of the list was how horrible the Jimmy Garoppolo contract looks.
Jimmy G, who signed a three-year, $72.5 million deal with the Raiders in March, has looked like a complete shell of himself to the point that the Raiders had to bench him in favor of rookie Aidan O’Connell. What made the contract worse was that Garoppolo’s contract came with a waiver that essentially allowed him to pass his physical with the Raiders.
“In the absence of this waiver, [Garoppolo] would not pass the club’s physical examination because of a preexisting medial and middle cuneiform and a fracture of the base of the second metatarsal in the player’s left foot.”
A new report seems to indicate that Josh McDaniels was the only one who wanted to Jimmy Garoppolo. According to CBS Sports Johnathan Jones, the Raiders from “ownership down” was ready to move on from Derek Carr but wanted to sign a ‘bridge quarterback’ that would get them to the 2024 NFL Draft that is filled with QB talent including Caleb Williams and Drake Maye:
“The Raiders, from ownership down, were ready to move on from their longtime quarterback Derek Carr before the end of the 2022 season. McDaniels pushed for Jimmy Garoppolo while some in the building wished for a bridge quarterback to get them to 2024. Garoppolo, bad foot and all, signed a three-year, $72.75 million deal in the offseason, then signed a revised deal that lessened his 2023 cap hit after he passed a physical.
He’s owed an extra $11.25 million in salary if he’s on the roster on the fifth day of the 2024 league year. It seems impossible today that the Raiders would find a trade partner for Garoppolo, meaning cutting him and eating the dead money in the future is going to be their only option after the season.”
One of the decision-makers in the building that is believed to have wanted to pass on Garoppolo was GM Dave Ziegler. It’s also been rumored that Ziegler is someone who wasn’t sold on the idea of parting ways with Derek Carr. It seems like Josh McDaniels was the one calling all the shots and unfortunately Dave Ziegler had to go with him.
The Raiders are coming off a big win over the New York Giants in interim head coach Antonio Pierce debut. The Raiders (4-5) will host the New York Jets on Sunday Night Football on Sunday.
