The Las Vegas Raiders have been hard at work this offseason looking to make the necessary moves to get this franchise back into the postseason in 2024. One of the first things the team did was release quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo whom they signed to a huge deal last summer.
It was clear pretty quickly that the marriage between the two sides was not going to work out and the Raiders would bench Garoppolo in favor of Aidan O’Connell during the season. In cutting Garoppolo the Raiders did have to take on some dead cap money, but it wasn’t as bad as it originally seemed.
According to Justin Churchill of A to Z Sports, using the post-June 1 cut on the quarterback allowed the Raiders to spread his cap hit out over multiple seasons and gave the Raiders more salary cap space to work with:
According to Spotrac, the move to cut Garoppolo with the post-June 1 allowed the #Raiders to spread his dead-cap hit out. The Raiders will be on the hook for $4.26 million in 2024 and $12.8 million in 2025. Garoppolo’s suspension voided an $11.25 million guarantee. Per Over the…
— Justin Churchill (@ChurchillAtoZ) June 1, 2024
It was a really smart move for the Raiders to make and they are already paying dividends. The team immediately moved to sign defensive tackle Christian Wilkins as well as quarterback Gardner Minshew who will compete with O’Connell for the starting quarterback job.
As noted, Garoppolo’s suspension also voided another $11 million that the Raiders would have been on the hook for, so the team still has plenty of cap room to make some necessary additions.
There have been rumors about potentially adding to the secondary or perhaps another running back if they aren’t comfortable with the Zamir White-Alexander Mattison pairing. And once training camp begins there are almost always some injuries that will come down and force the Raiders to make an addition. And they have the money to outbid most teams if it comes to that.
Zamir White: Raiders ‘really on right now’ in OTAs
Those within the Raiders locker room right now, however, are feeling strongly about where the team is at and how things are going during their offseason workouts.
Running back Zamir White recently spoke on this, saying the team is ‘really on right now’ and praising everyone in the building for grinding every day. White added that there is no one dragging inside the building and feels everyone ‘wants it.’
