Jimmy Garoppolo‘s start to his Las Vegas Raiders tenure is beginning on the sideline.
After signing with the Raiders in March, the veteran quarterback underwent surgery on the foot he injured last season, The Athletic reported Thursday. Las Vegas is reportedly confident that Garoppolo will be ready to play by the start of the regular season, but head coach Josh McDaniels told reporters Thursday that the quarterback “could be” out until at least the start of training camp.
Garoppolo suffered a left foot injury last December while playing with the San Francisco 49ers. It was originally feared that he had a Lisfranc fracture that would require surgery, but that didn’t end up being the case and Garoppolo held out hope of returning to the team if it made the Super Bowl.
Instead, the 49ers’ season ended in the NFC Championship Game when they lost their remaining healthy quarterbacks. But the surprising rise of rookie Brock Purdy, who had replaced Garoppolo in December, allowed San Francisco to let the veteran walk in free agency. Las Vegas signed Garoppolo to a three-year, $72.75 million contract with $45 million guaranteed just hours after free agency opened in March.
But when Garoppolo arrived at the team’s facility to sign his contract, his introductory press conference was postponed a day. Garoppolo didn’t explain the postponement a day later, but The Athletic reported that the team’s doctors determined that Garoppolo needed surgery on the injured foot.
As a result of the surgery, Garoppolo isn’t participating in Raiders organized team activities this week. McDaniels doesn’t seem too concerned about the situation, though.
“We don’t play a game for 100 days,” McDaniels told reporters. “Everything that’s happened since we signed Jimmy, we knew ahead of time. … Certainly had an awareness of all of it. Our preference is not to push it and rush anybody back at this point in time.”
The Raiders signed Garoppolo after releasing longtime starting quarterback Derek Carr. Las Vegas got Garoppolo at a cheaper price than what Carr would have cost this season. The nine-year Raider was released just before his $40.4 million salary would’ve been fully guaranteed.
During his six seasons with the 49ers, Garoppolo led them to the Super Bowl in 2019 and threw for 2,437 yards, 16 touchdowns and four interceptions with a 103 passer rating in 10 games last season.
But Garoppolo has dealt with his fair share of injuries. Over his 49ers tenure, the 31-year-old QB tore his ACL and suffered a severe ankle sprain, in addition to last season’s foot injury. Overall, he missed 32 regular-season and postseason games due to injury.
In addition to adding Garoppolo this offseason, the Raiders also signed veteran backup QB Brian Hoyer and drafted Purdue‘s Aidan O’Connell to reshape their quarterback room.
National Football League
Las Vegas Raiders
Jimmy Garoppolo
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