HENDERSON, Nevada โ Jimmy Garoppolo stepped into Raiders headquarters Thursday morning with iced coffee in hand, a cream hoodie, black pants, white sneakers and a black backpack. A team member of his staff followed right behind him with a black bag that supposedly contained a change of clothes. As the staff explained the layout of his $75 million facility, Garoppolo looked around, grinned, and acknowledged that Raiders employees were recording him, and embraced the whole thing.
“Damn,” Garoppolo said in a video posted on Twitter by the Raiders. “This isโunreal, man.”
Garoppolo reunited with Raiders coach Josh McDaniels, who was the Patriots’ offensive coordinator from 2013 to 2017, inside the team’s dining area.
From there, McDaniels and Garoppolo spread the love to receivers Jacobi Myers and Philip Dorsett (two other players McDaniels coached for the Patriots) and lots of smiles. Myers and Dorsett have already officially signed a deal to become the Raiders, with Garoppolo scheduled to follow suit on Thursday morning.
Garoppolo never signed.
Five free agents have signed with the Raiders โ Myers, Dorsett, safety Marcus Epps, linebacker Robert Spillane and cornerback Brandon Fascison โ to the media at a press conference beginning around 11 a.m. PT. before giving a speech. Garoppolo was to be formally introduced around noon. But noon passed without any communication from Garoppolo.
Then 1pm came and went…and 2pm came and went. Clearly something was wrong. And just before 2:30 p.m., a Raiders spokesperson emerged from the door before announcing that Garoppolo had temporarily postponed his press conference until at least Friday, announcing that the quarterback had not signed his contract. , was supposed to walk for more than two hours. A yearly deal worth up to $72.5 million he and the Raiders agreed on Monday.
A source with knowledge of the situation said athletic‘s Jeff Howe and Vic Tafur said shortly afterward that things were “all fine.” This hints at a belief that an agreement between Garoppolo and the Raiders has yet to be finalized. occurs.
To glean potential explanations, it’s worth looking into the deal Garoppolo and the Raiders agreed to earlier this week. The figure consisted of Garoppolo’s signing bonus, 2023 salary and 2024 roster bonus. This amount is significant as it is the only amount the Raiders are contractually obligated to pay up front.
The agreement only guaranteed Garoppolo to remain on the roster for the 2023 season, but it made it much more likely that he would remain with the team in 2024. A cut would result in a dead money hit of $18.75 million, freeing up only $9.25 million of cap space. The Raiders could theoretically absorb the blow and have plenty of cap space left in 2024, but that outcome is highly unlikely. The numbers would be more favorable if they traded him after 2023 โ they free up $20.5 million space for just a $7.5 million dead money hit โ but give Garoppolo $24.25 million. I doubt there are many suitors signing up to pay. 2024 if he gives the Raiders a reason to want to move on.
But with this two-year deal, the Raiders won’t suddenly cool off on Thursday. After all, they knew it would happen when they first agreed.
The most obvious potential issue was that Garoppolo’s contract technically contained guarantees totaling $45 million. The contract includes a clause that his $11.25 million salary for 2024 will be injury guaranteed at the time of signing. So if Garoppolo gets seriously injured in his 2023 and misses time in 2024, the Raiders will pay his $11.25 million in addition.
Before a free agent contract is signed in the NFL, a team has to do physicals with a player. In short, physical determines if there is anything that might prevent a player from being physically able to perform.
The Raiders have had situations where it’s been problematic in the past.In 2014, they signed offensive lineman Roger Saffold to a $42.5 million contract. On the day Saffold’s press conference was scheduled, the Raiders performed a physical. Saffold did not sign and the press conference was canceled. Saffold signed with the Rams and his 16 regulars that season saw him appear in all of his contests on the season.
A Raiders spokesperson who announced Garoppolo’s press conference would be postponed was asked Thursday if the quarterback was having physical problems and declined to comment, but the postponement has hashed out details of his contract. Said it was related to
athletic We reached out to multiple league sources to discover what the details of these deals were, but received no response by the time this article was published. Again, there’s optimism that whatever prevented Garoppolo from officially joining the Raiders will be resolved, but alternatives should be explored.
If the deal doesn’t go through, the Raiders will be in a tough spot.They will receive an influx of cap space, but there aren’t many viable quarterback options in the free agent market. says as athletic said last week they were unlikely to sign him an offer sheet. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is available โ and Howe reported Wednesday The Raiders called the Packers about a potential trade of his services earlier this offseason, but Green Bay appears to be close to trading Rodgers for the Jets. Veteran options outside of Jackson and Rogers are bleak.
Some of the most notable veteran quarterbacks available in free agency include Carson Wentz, Matt Ryan, Teddy Bridgewater, Marcus Mariota, Mason Rudolph, Joe Flacco and Brian Hoyer. All of these players are heavily downgraded from Garoppolo.
In a scenario where the Raiders had to settle for one, they would have had to draft a quarterback in the first round of next month’s NFL Draft. They’re in a decent position to do so considering they have the 7th pick, but there are some issues.
No. 1, of the four quarterbacks widely considered to have first-round talent (Alabama’s Bryce Young, Ohio State’s CJ Stroud, Florida’s Anthony Richardson, and Kentucky’s Will Levis) There is no guarantee that one of them will still be available. The No. 1 Panthers, No. 2 Texans, No. 4 Colts, No. 5 Seahawks and No. 6 Lions are all teams that could theoretically draft a quarterback.They could pursue trade for No. 3 pick with Cardinals – league sources said athletic Before the Bears traded to the Panthers, they considered trading the number one pick early this offseason, but the price would certainly skyrocket to do so.
No. 2. It’s unclear how many of the aforementioned college quarterbacks the Raiders actually think are worth drafting anywhere in the top seven nominations. The answer may be zero, though unlikely. The Raiders could aim to pick a quarterback late in the draft, but it would be playing with fire if they were stuck with a subpar veteran starter coming out of free agency.
In case it wasn’t already clear, the Raiders would be in dire straits if the deal with Garoppolo was broken. We’ll have to wait to see if they can avoid that nightmarish outcome.
(Photo: Ric Tapia / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
