Reports emerged on Monday about a special waiver in the contract new Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo signed this past March.
Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is months away from stepping onto the field for a regular season game and his tenure in Nevada is off a start that can’t help but make headlines.
It was revealed in reports on Monday morning that the contract he signed as a free agent this past March – three years for $72.75 million – has a special waiver pertaining to his most recent foot injury.
Even though it’s still the offseason, there are some early NFL Futures to check out.
NFL 23/24 - To Reach the Playoffs - Las Vegas Raiders
Garoppolo Must Pass a Physical with the Raiders
For as many games as he has won in the regular season and playoffs, there is no question that the injury bug has had its eye on Garoppolo for a long time. The 31-year-old’s time with the San Francisco 49ers was fraught with absences to lick wounds.
He didn’t complete the 2018 campaign due to a torn ACL. 2020 was marred by an ankle sprain that cut his campaign short in November. 2022 saw Garoppolo play for the last time in Week 13 because of a foot injury. Given what we now know of his replacement Brock Purdy, the rest, as they say, is history.
As such, when the Las Vegas Raiders came calling for his services and the parties agreed that there was a future between them, something intriguing happened in the negotiation process.
As per Pro Football Talk, which revealed some of the paperwork’s details, a waiver exists therein that operates like the sword of Damocles. Said waiver regards the player’s necessity to pass a physical, which he has yet to do. Garoppolo underwent surgery in March regarding this same foot issue.
Not only can the Raiders terminate his contract for any reason pertaining to the waiver, but if the player does not pass a physical during the 2023 season, he doesn’t get paid any of his base $22.5 salary for the year. The major caveat here is that the waiver itself becomes null should Garoppolo still be on the roster two days after the regular season’s conclusion.
It’s certainly one way to start one’s career with a new club. Then again, an injury-plagued history is one of the reasons why no other teams opted to sign the quarterback during the 2022 offseason. As readers will recall, he began 2022 as Trey Lance’s backup before the younger QB himself suffered a season-ending injury.
This will surely be one of 2023’s most intriguing NFL subplots.
NFL teams are currently engaged in their first OTA’s (Organized Team Activities) of the season.
