Raiders release Jimmy Garoppolo after first season of 3-year deal, PED suspension
The Jimmy Garoppolo era in Las Vegas is over.
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.
Garoppolo’s contract had to be reworked when he failed a physical and needed surgery on his previously injured foot, and he never reached the success he had in San Francisco after getting healthy.
The Raiders benched Garoppolo midway through last season after Antonio Pierce took over for fired coach Josh McDaniels. With Pierce, the Raiders went 5-4, and after many players pleaded to have him back, the Raiders dropped his interim tag to make him their official head coach.
Before signing with the Raiders, Garoppolo had a roller coaster tenure with the San Francisco 49ers.
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Garoppolo was the guy under center in the Bay Area until Trey Lance was selected with the third overall pick in 2021. Lance sat for a year before becoming the starter, and Garoppolo returned to the Niners in 2022 on a one-year deal. After an ankle injury in Week 2 ended Lance’s season in 2022, Garoppolo was back under center.
But Garoppolo got injured, giving Brock Purdy a chance, and the rest is history.
Garoppolo was also suspended for two games in the upcoming season for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancement substance policy last month.
As the Niners starter, Garoppolo went to three NFC championships and a Super Bowl. With Vegas, he made just six starts, throwing for 1,205 yards, nine interceptions and seven touchdowns before getting benched after the coaching change.
His replacement, Aidan O’Connell, a fourth-round pick out of Purdue, completed 213 of his 343 attempts (62.1%) for 2,218 yards, 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Las Vegas has the 13th pick in the NFL Draft.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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