Veteran NFL QB suspended two games for PED violation

During what turned out to be Josh McDaniels‘ final offseason running the show, the Raiders gave Garoppolo a three-year, $72.75M contract hours into the legal tampering period. This came after a foot fracture ended Garoppolo’s 49ers career. 

More injury trouble emerged for the ex-Patriots draftee in Las Vegas, but the Raiders benched their starter immediately after firing McDaniels and GM Dave Ziegler. Garoppolo spent the second half of the season backing up Aidan O’Connell. That setup always pointed to a release; Friday’s suspension will ensure Garoppolo will be a Vegas one-and-done.

The suspension stands to help the Raiders, who will be eyeing other QB options this offseason. Garoppolo is due an $11.25M guarantee — covering his 2024 base salary — this offseason. This ban will reduce the dead money that would come the Raiders’ way in the event of release.

Cutting Garoppolo will now only cost the Raiders $17.1M, as opposed to $28.4M, according to OverTheCap. That will help the Antonio Pierce-Tom Telesco regime as it determines its 2024 QB path.

This continues a downward trend for Garoppolo, who was at the controls for the start of what turned out to be a seminal 49ers win streak during the 2022 season. A December 2022 Jones fracture ended Garoppolo’s season, introducing Brock Purdy to the NFL world. The 49ers did not attempt to re-sign Garoppolo, despite the team reaching a resolution to retain him as Trey Lance insurance just before the ’22 season. Garoppolo still commanded a decent market in 2023, fetching $33.75M guaranteed from the Raiders. Part of that guarantee will not come his way.

Garoppolo, 32, started just six games for the Raiders last season. Given a less QB-friendly setup in Las Vegas compared to the one he enjoyed under Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco, Garoppolo struggled. The Raiders, who had included an injury waiver in Garoppolo’s deal in case he did not heal properly from offseason foot surgery, parked the 10th-year passer on the bench after a dismal Monday-night showing in Detroit — one that preceded the firings of McDaniels, Ziegler and OC Mick Lombardi. With Pierce and Bo Hardegree in charge, Garoppolo was no longer part of the plan.

Although Garoppolo was coming off a benching that was set to cut into his 2024 market, a few teams need at least a bridge option at QB this offseason. This suspension will further reduce Garoppolo’s negotiating leverage. While Garoppolo joins Russell Wilson as experienced starters set to be cut by an AFC West team, his injury history and this unavailability will hurt the former Super Bowl starter as a street free agent. A team wanting a bridge QB would ideally need that passer to be available to start the season, potentially as a rookie develops.

The 2023 Raiders agreement showed other teams pursued Garoppolo, who has made 63 career starts. Of course, he has also missed 32 starts due to injury throughout his career. This suspension stands to help the markets of other stopgap-type passers on this year’s market. Beyond top UFA QBs Baker Mayfield and Kirk Cousins, a glut of midlevel vets — from Ryan Tannehill to Jacoby Brissett to Gardner Minshew to Sam Darnold — loom as options for teams unable to land the top two signal-callers. Justin Fields also likely will be an option via trade. Considering the Raiders’ Luke Getsy hire, they should at least be viewed as a possible destination for the three-year Bears starter.

Pierce’s past with Heisman winner Jayden Daniels has already come up this offseason, with the former Arizona State recruit’s name being mentioned during the Raiders’ OC search. It would likely take a big haul for the Raiders to move up from No. 13 into Daniels territory, however. O’Connell still resides as a possible Week 1 starter for Las Vegas, but once Garoppolo is cut, the now-Telesco-led team may also seek a veteran — should it determine a trade-up for a prized rookie too pricey — to compete with O’Connell for the 2024 gig.