Las Vegas Raiders QB Jimmy Garoppolo signs waiver in place of Physical Exam

Introduction

On Monday, May 29th, 2023 the Las Vegas Raiders announced that they were adding an addendum to Jimmy Garoppolo's recently agreed upon contract with the Las Vegas Raiders. The addendum serves as a waiver that took the place of the quarterback taking a physical with the Las Vegas Raiders medical staff.

"In the absence of this waiver, Jimmy Garoppolo would not pass the club's physical examination because of a preexisting medial and middle cuneiform and a fracture of the base of the second metatarsal in the player's left foot," the addendum stated.

Garoppolo’s Contract Addendum with the Las Vegas Raiders

The provision, titled Addendum G, was first reported upon by Pro Football Talk, and it was eventually posted on social media by the NFL Network. The waiver completely addresses the foot injury that a major sports news media outlet said Garoppolo underwent surgery shortly following him signing a new 3 - year contract with the Las Vegas Raiders worth up to approximately $72.75 million.

The Las Vegas Raiders could terminate Garoppolo's contract for any reason related to the waiver, and that Garoppolo will not be paid any of his $22.5 million base salary for the 2023 - 2024 NFL season until he ultimately passes a physical examination. The waiver is voided if Garoppolo remains with the Las Vegas Raiders for 2 - days after their final game of the 2023 - 2024 NFL season.

Jimmy's introductory news conference with the Las Vegas Raiders back in March of 2023 was postponed a day, though the quarterback dismissed that his foot injury that Garoppolo endured while he was still playing for the San Francisco 49ers.

"No worry," Garoppolo said back on March 18th, 2023, when asked if his injury held up the signing. "I mean it was just talking, language, things like that. But no, both sides, I think, knew what we wanted to get done, so it was very collaborative actually. Just us coming together."

When will Garoppolo take the field for the Las Vegas Raiders?

Garoppolo has not been on the field during organized team activities. While the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, Josh McDaniels, would not confirm whether or not Jimmy had surgery, he did say there were no surprises in the quarterback's, "process," in Las Vegas so far this year. McDaniels said it, "could be," training camp when Garoppolo initially takes the field for the Las Vegas Raiders.

"But everything that's happened since we signed Jimmy, we knew ahead of time," McDaniels explained. "So, we had an awareness of all of it. And again, our preference is to not push and rush anybody back at this point in time. Could we? I mean, you could make that decision. It's just, I think the most important time of the year is going to happen when we get to training camp so that we're ready to go and we can do the work we need to do in August."

The NFL veteran quarterback, Brian Hoyer, has been working with the Las Vegas Raiders first - team offense during their OTA’s. The Las Vegas Raiders also have quarterbacks Aidan O'Connell, whom they selected during the 4th - round of the 2023 NFL draft out of Purdue University, and Chase Garbers on their official team roster.

Broken Ankle

Back on Sunday, December 4th, 2022 the San Francisco 49ers realized that their veteran starting quarterback in Garoppolo managed to break his ankle, and that he had to miss the end of the 2022 - 2023 NFL season.

For an astonishing 2nd - time during the 2022 - 2023 NFL regular - season, the San Francisco 49ers had to play without their starting quarterback due to a season - ending injury. The second - time, it was a broken left foot for Garoppolo, who has already been through what seems like a career's worth of injuries so far throughout his NFL career, and unfortunately for the San Francisco 49ers, Jimmy was previously having one of his very best stretches of quarterback play as a professional football player in the National Football League.

"I saw him at halftime and I was pretty emotional," the San Francisco 49ers superstar defensive end, Nick Bosa, expressed. "It sucks. Kind of similar to how I was feeling in 2020 [when I suffered a season - ending ACL injury]. I couldn't get it off of my mind. I just kind of had to force myself to block it out and keep going."

Replacing Jimmy Garoppolo as QB for the San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers’ rookie quarterback last year, Brock Purdy, had to replace Garoppolo, and Brock threw for his very 1st - NFL touchdown pass during his first drive after being thrown into game action as he found fullback Kyle Juszczyk for a 4 - yard touchdown score. Purdy finished that game by going 25 - of - 37 which was good for 210 - passing yards as well as 2 - touchdowns and just 1 - interception. Purdy earned a much - deserved passer rating of 88.8 while filling in for Garoppolo on that initial occasion.

With both Garoppolo as well as Trey Lance out for the majority of the past NFL season, Brock was the San Francisco 49ers next man up at the quarterback position. The San Francisco 49ers wasted little time last year as they immediately made a move to add a veteran back - up quarterback by signing, Josh Johnson, off of the Denver Broncos' practice squad.

Unfortunately for the San Francisco 49ers, Johnson was not on their official team roster for the 2022 - 2023 NFL playoffs, and when Purdy and Lance both were injured during an NFL playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles, they were found not to have a quarterback who could pass for the San Francisco 49ers offense.

The San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan mentioned that Garoppolo, "broke a few things," in his left foot, and Jimmy required a season - ending surgical procedure in order to repair his left foot injury. This marks the 3rd - time since the 2018 - 2019 NFL season that Garoppolo will finish the year on the NFL’s injured reserve list.

Latest Foot Injury

This most recent lower - body injury for Garoppolo occurred only 8 - plays into the San Francisco 49ers' opening drive during their 33 to 17 victory vs. the Miami Dolphins last year. With just 11 - minutes and 22 - seconds remaining in the 1st - quarter of play from Levi’s Stadium located in Santa Clara, CA, the Miami Dolphins linebacker, Jerome Baker, as well as the Miami Dolphins defensive end, Jaelan Phillips, came together to put a nasty leg dragging sack on Garoppolo which inevitably ended his season.

Jimmy had made an attempt to keep his body’s momentum moving in a forward direction, but his left foot was trapped underneath Jaelan Phillips while he was taken down to the turf. Garoppolo got up to slowly hobble over to the San Francisco 49ers sideline, and Jimmy ultimately had to make his way into the dreaded blue medical tent prior to being carted off of the field into the San Francisco 49ers’ locker room for a more thorough medical evaluation.

Garoppolo was initially said to be questionable to return to game action, but Jimmy was eventually and officially ruled out of that game for the San Francisco 49ers with 8:39 remaining in the 2nd - quarter of the game versus the Miami Dolphins.

"Just hearing it, it's pretty crushing," the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, Kyle Shanahan, stated. "You know what Jimmy has been through, how hard he's worked at this."

Foot/Ankle Injuries for the San Francisco 49ers’ Quarterbacks

Garoppolo’s broken foot marked the 2nd - foot / ankle injury to a San Francisco 49ers’ starting quarterback last year. Lance sustained a right fibula fracture back on September 18th, 2022 during the San Francisco 49ers victory vs. the Seattle Seahawks which resulted in Trey being placed on NFL’s injured reserve list for the majority of the past NFL season.

Laundry List of Injuries throughout his NFL Career

Garoppolo had managed to start every single regular - season game ever since Lance's latest injury, as the San Francisco 49ers went 7 and 3 during Jimmy’s 10 - starts the last NFL season. That was just the latest injury in a very lengthy list of injuries for Jimmy Garoppolo since his arrival in San Francisco way back in 2017. Garoppolo previously tore his left ACL back in 2018, had a pair of high right ankle sprains in 2020, and he also had to manage a fractured right thumb as well as a sprained right shoulder during the 2021 - 2022 NFL season.

"That was brutal," the San Francisco 49ers running back, Christian McCaffrey, proclaimed. "I haven't been around a long time here, but I can't say enough good things about him. ... When you see a guy like Brock come in and did well like that, it's because of Jimmy. It's because of learning from a guy like Jimmy. ... Heartbreaking."

Brock Purdy

At that time, the San Francisco 49ers were sitting pretty with their overall record of 8 and 4 as they were riding a 5 - game winning streak, the San Francisco 49ers would then have to turn to their rookie third - string quarterback, Brock Purdy, in order to keep them rolling hard and with a full head of steam towards to the 2022 - 2023 NFL postseason. Purdy's main objective was to protect the football as well as to distribute the ball primarily to the San Francisco 49ers long list of deadly offensive weapons.

Past history would indicate that Purdy would have an uphill climb. Since Shanahan took the San Francisco 49ers as their head coach over back in 2017, the Niners have compiled an overall record of 42 and 19 in games started by Garoppolo, and that record includes the NFL playoffs, but the San Francisco 49ers are 9 and 29 when other quarterbacks such as Trey Lance, Nick Mullens, C. J. Beathard, and Brian Hoyer have started the game.

Purdy, who was named "Mr. Irrelevant" as he was picked as the last selection of the 2022 NFL Draft, as the San Francisco 49ers used the 262nd and final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft on Brock, apparently has plenty of relevance now. Purdy appeared only during mop - up duty in the course of 3 - games, going 4 - of - 9 which was good for 66 - passing yards and 1 - interception vs. the Kansas City Chiefs back on October 23rd, 2022.

When the San Francisco 49ers faced off against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Purdy became the first "Mr. Irrelevant" to start an NFL regular season game in the common draft era, and he had to do so against the G. O. A. T. in Tom Brady, who has compiled an overall record of 7 and 0 throughout his illustrious and long NFL career vs. quarterbacks making their 1st - NFL start.

"I think it's cool," the San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Brock Purdy, explained. "He's been playing football longer than I've been alive, so to have a first start against, you know, the GOAT, it's gonna be pretty cool.”

Garoppolo’s NFL Career History

• New England Patriots (2014 - 2017)
• San Francisco 49ers (2017 - 2022)
• Las Vegas Raiders (2023 - Present)

Garoppolo’s Football Career Achievements, Honors, & Awards

• 2 - Time Super Bowl Champion (XLIX, LI)
• Walter Payton Award Winner (2013)
• OVC Offensive Player of the Year Award Winner (2013)
• First - Team All - OVC Selection (2013)
• Second - Team All - OVC Selection (2012)

Garoppolo’s NFL Career Statistics

• Passing Attempts: 1,726 Attempts
• Passing Completions: 1,167 Completions
• Completion Percentage: 67.6 %
• Passing Yards: 14,289 Yards
• Touchdown / Interception Ratio: 87 Touchdowns / 42 Interceptions
• Passer Rating: 99.6 QB Rating
• Rushing Yards: 225 Yards
• Rushing Touchdowns: 7 Touchdowns

Purdy’s Football Career Achievements, Honors, & Awards

• PFWA All - Rookie Team Selection (2022)
• 2 - Time First - Team All - Big 12 Selection (2020, 2021)
• Second - Team All - Big 12 Selection (2019)

Purdy’s NFL Career Statistics

• Passing Attempts: 170 Attempts
• Passing Completions: 114 Completions
• Completion Percentage: 67.1 %
• Touchdown / Interception Ratio: 13 - 4
• Passing Yards: 1,374 Yards
• Passer Rating: 107.3 QB Rating

Sources:

“Jimmy Garoppolo signed waiver in place of physical, per reports”, Paul Gutierrez, espn.com, May 29, 2023.

“49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo out for season with broken foot”, Nick Wagoner, espn.com, December 4, 2022.

“Jimmy Garoppolo”, pro-football-reference.com, May 29, 2023.

“Brock Purdy”, pro-football-reference.com, May 29, 2022.