The Las Vegas Raiders are without quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for OTA's this week, as the 31-year-old required surgery after signing a three-year $72.75million (£59.07m( deal.
Garoppolo signed for the Raiders back in March after leaving the San Francisco 49ers, picking up $33.75m (£27.4m) in guarantees throughout his three-year contract. Garoppolo was brought in to replace long-term quarterback Derek Carr, but he's already absent as he targets a full recovery.
The quarterback suffered a left-foot fracture back in December while playing for the 49ers, but team doctors gave him a recovery diagnosis of two months and advised against surgery. The Raiders were aware of this when signing Garoppolo, but only found out after the deal was done that the quarterback did require a surgical procedure.
The plan for Garoppolo last season was to return to the 49ers in time for the Super Bowl - had they made it. The 49ers lost in the NFC Championship to the Philadelphia Eagles, and Garoppolo's 49ers career ended then and there.
Shortly after the season Garoppolo left as Trey Lance and Brock Purdy are now the two competitors for the starting role, and he quickly signed for the Raiders. The franchise knew that Garoppolo wasn't 100 per cent, but only found out after signing that he did require surgery after being assessed.
Garoppolo's recovery period has no time frame, and it could be months before he is back to full fitness. It's a major blow to the Raiders who would have been keen to work with their new quarterback early on, but head coach Josh McDaniels doesn't appear to be worried.
"He’s going through his process just like we knew he would," McDaniels said on Thursday. "Nothing has happened that would surprise us based on the information we had.
"We don’t play a game for 100 days. Everything that’s happened since we signed Jimmy, we knew ahead of time. … Certainly had an awareness of all of it. Our preference is not to push it and rush anybody back at this point in time."
Garoppolo should be back for the start of the season, but he'll have less time to learn the play book and establish chemistry with his new team-mates. The Raiders do have Brian Hoyer as a solid backup to Garoppolo, and traded up in the 2023 NFL Draft to bring in Aidan O’Connell.
Their decision now makes more sense due to Garoppolo's situation behind the scenes, but the former 49ers quarterback is seen as their best bet for reaching the playoffs over the next three years. The Raiders have only made the playoffs twice in the past ten seasons, as they continue to struggle in a division with the Kansas City Chiefs.
