The Las Vegas Raiders will kick off the 2023 season this Sunday against the Denver Broncos, and they’re hoping that their key offseason acquisition can lead them back to the playoffs.
That person of course is Jimmy Garoppolo who takes over the quarterback position after the Raiders decided to finally part ways with Derek Carr. Garoppolo spent the past six seasons with the San Francisco 49ers but comes to Las Vegas where he reunites with his former offensive coordinator and current head coach Josh McDaniels.
Garoppolo’s start with the team didn’t get off on the highest note as he underwent a foot procedure in the offseason to address the injury he sustained toward the end of the 2022 season. However, the Raiders were aware of the signal caller’s injury and still decided to sign him to a three-year deal in free agency.
The contract was for three years, $67.5 million but Las Vegas was able to restructure it in order to create more cap space right before the start of the regular season via Field Yates of ESPN:
The Raiders have restructured the contract of QB Jimmy Garoppolo, creating $17M in 2023 cap space, per source. pic.twitter.com/uXHI2uwaci
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 5, 2023
Although this means the Raiders will owe Garoppolo more money in the next couple of seasons, this gives them more flexibility to add some help or depth midseason. While it can be argued that this type of move would have been more useful during the spring, it’s still good work by the Las Vegas front office to give them more wiggle room if a move presents itself.
For Garoppolo, he gets paid more money upfront which is probably in his best interest considering his lengthy injury history. In May, it was revealed that the Raiders had the power to void his deal entirely if he failed his physical, but he was able to pass.
With this out of the way, the Silver and Black and Garoppolo will go into Week 1 looking to set the tone for the rest of the regular season.
Josh McDaniels says plan was to always carry three quarterbacks on 53-man roster
Throughout the preseason, Aidan O’Connell was the clear choice to back up Garoppoolo as he impressed in all three games he appeared in. O’Connell looked much more in command of the offense compared to veteran Brian Hoyer.
However, both O’Connell and Hoyer made the 53-man roster, and McDaniels revealed that was the plan all along.
