Just 12 months after signing a three-year deal with the Raiders, Garoppolo was released Wednesday, making him a free agent. The Raiders had signed Garoppolo to a three-year, $72.75 million contract last offseason to replace the departed Derek Carr, but the move backfired almost from the start.
Veteran quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo agreed to a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Rams on Friday, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.
The Las Vegas Raiders released Garoppolo shortly after the NFL’s 2024 league year got underway. The move was widely expected, with ESPN’s Adam Schefter first reporting on his expected departure in February.
That coincided with news of a two-game suspension for the 32-year-old, which might have been the final nail in his coffin with the Raiders.
Garoppolo’s performance was enough to raise questions about his long-term future in Sin City. Through six starts, he threw for 1,205 yards, seven touchdowns and nine interceptions with a passer rating of 78.1.
Ahead of a Week 8 clash with the New York Giants, then-interim head coach Antonio Pierce named Aidan O’Connell as the starting quarterback and didn’t look back from there.
Garoppolo appeared in just one more game, logging three snaps in a Week 18 win over the Denver Broncos.
The way the season unfolded raised questions over what had become the prevailing wisdom around Jimmy G.
The Raiders signed him to replace Derek Carr with the belief that he’d have a high floor. When healthy, he had been an above-average and perhaps even a fringe top-10 quarterback during his time with the San Francisco 49ers.
Outside of Kyle Shanahan’s offense, though, he didn’t look like a viable starting option.
The two-game suspension issued to Garoppolo eliminated any shot at him being a Week 1 starter on a different team. That might have been the case without the ban.
Moving forward, casting Garoppolo as a high-level backup/spot starter is a much better reflection of his value. His arrival is a nice boost to the Rams’ quarterback room behind Matthew Stafford.
Having a good backup is a valuable luxury considering how the quarterback landscape looked last year.
