The Las Vegas Raiders chose to bring in Jimmy Garoppolo to take over as the team’s new quarterback after moving on from Derek Carr this offseason. Garoppolo has had some success in the NFL, but he also brings a pretty lengthy injury history with him, including one from last season.
Garoppolo suffered a foot injury in Week 13 last year with the San Francisco 49ers, but because it was not healed, the quarterback did not pass the physical given to him by Raiders team doctors.
Because of this, the Raiders would add a final clause to Garoppolo’s three-year, $67.5 million contract, via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk:
PFT has obtained Garoppolo’s contract. It contains a critical final clause — Addendum G — that addresses the foot injury Garoppolo suffered during the 2022 season, and for which he had surgery after signing with the Raiders.
Addendum G is a waiver and release. In the first paragraph, the waiver acknowledges that, without it, Garoppolo would not pass the team’s physical “because of a preexisting medal and middle cuneiform and a fracture of the base of the second metatarsal in the Player’s left foot and that the Club would not enter into an NFL Player Contract with Player.”
As Florio noted, Garoppolo has since had surgery on the foot, and it is believed he will be ready for the start of the season. But if there are any kind of issues lingering, this clause gives the Raiders the ability to terminate the contract and cut the quarterback:
The contract preserves the team’s ability to terminate the agreement with no further obligation, “for any reason related to the Waiver and Release attached as Addendum G.” The waiver becomes null and void if at any time during the 2023 season, Garoppolo passes a physical exam, is active for at least one regular-season game, and does not suffer re-injury to his left foot in the manner described in Addendum G.
Garoppolo’s signing bonus was taken away and converted to a base salary, so the Raiders have yet to pay him anything and won’t do so until he passes a physical and suits up for the team. Obviously, the hope is that Garoppolo recovers and is exactly the type of quarterback the Raiders need in order for them to make a playoff run.
But if he can’t get over this foot injury, the Raiders have the ability to move on without it costing them a dime.
