Getty Las Vegas Raiders QB Jimmy Garoppolo.
It’s looking like Jimmy Garoppolo won’t be back with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2024. According to a February 16 X post from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the veteran quarterback is being suspended by the NFL for two games after violating the league’s Performance Enhancing Substances Policy.
Garoppolo used a “prescribed medication without having a valid Therapeutic Use Exemption,” per Schefter.
The Raiders weren’t expected to bring back Garoppolo next season but it appears that he’s already on his way out.
“Garoppolo will not appeal the suspension and will miss the first two games of the 2024 season, but it is not expected to be with the Raiders, per sources,” Schefter wrote in a February 16 report.
“The Raiders are expected to release Garoppolo before the fifth day of the new league year in mid-March, when he would earn an $11.25 million roster bonus.”
This is big news for the Raiders as they may not be on the hook for the $11.25 million base salary he’s guaranteed in 2024, per an X post from ESPN’s Field Yates. There’s a process that will need to play out but it’s looking like the team will potentially be able to get off of Garoppolo’s contract without taking a huge monetary hit.
Will Jimmy Garoppolo Play in 2024?
The 2023 NFL season showed how important it is for teams to have strong backup quarterbacks. Big names like Joe Burrow, Aaron Rodgers and Deshaun Watson all suffered season-ending injuries. Though Jimmy Garoppolo won’t be able to play the first two games of the season, a team will almost certainly sign him.
He doesn’t have a history of violating league rules and has a lot of starting experience. That said, this likely hurts his chances of becoming a starting quarterback. Not many teams will want to give their starting quarterback job to a player who has to miss the first two games.
The most likely outcome is that Garoppolo is brought in to be a backup or to help shepherd a rookie. He still has value in one of those roles as he’s helped work with rookie quarterbacks for the past few seasons.
What’s Next for Las Vegas Raiders?
It’s not a surprise Jimmy Garoppolo won’t be retained by the Raiders next season. He was brought in by former head coach Josh McDaniels, who is no longer with the team. Head coach Antonio Pierce had plenty of chances to play Garoppolo last season but decided against it.
What is surprising is how abruptly the end of his Raiders tenure is coming. There was talk of him being a post-June 1 cut so that the team could maintain salary cap flexibility until next season but that might not be necessary if they can void his base salary for 2024.
Regardless, the Raiders will now definitely be in the quarterback market this offseason. Brian Hoyer and Aidan O’Connell are under contract. O’Connell could compete for the starting quarterback job but Hoyer is at best a third-string quarterback at this point in his career.
If the Raiders don’t draft a rookie quarterback early, they’ll likely bring in a veteran to compete with O’Connell now that Garoppolo is unlikely to be in the building.