The Las Vegas Raiders have found their starting quarterback. On Day 1 of the legal tampering period in the NFL, the club has reached an agreement with former San Francisco 49ers signal-caller Jimmy Garoppolo, according to CBS Sports NFL Insider Jonathan Jones. Specifically, ESPN reports that the Raiders are giving Garoppolo a three-year deal with $67.5 million and includes $34 million guaranteed.
Garoppolo has a connection with Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels, who was his offensive coordinator with the New England Patriots when he first entered the NFL until he was dealt to the San Francisco 49ers in 2017. He started just two games during their shared tenure in Foxborough as Garoppolo primarily sat behind Tom Brady. However, when Brady was serving his four-game suspension in 2016, McDaniels was able to work with Garoppolo as his starter before he went down with a shoulder injury. In that brief showing with McDaniels, Garoppolo threw four touchdowns over the course of two games and completed 68.3% of his throws.
More recently, Garoppolo went 7-3 in his 10 starts for the San Francisco 49ers this past season, completing 67.2% of his passes for 2,437 yards with 16 touchdowns to four interceptions for a 103.0 passer rating. The 49ers were 38-17 in Garoppolo's six seasons with the team, as Garoppolo compiled a 99.2 passer rating in his 45 starts.
Health has been the biggest issues for Garoppolo throughout his career. When he's on the field, however, he does lead his team to victory more often than not. He is one of seven starting quarterbacks with a career win percentage of .700 or better since the merger (minimum 50 starts). When he played at least 15 games for San Francisco, they either advanced to the Super Bowl or the NFC Championship.
Garoppolo now comes to a Raiders team where he'll be taking over from Derek Carr, who the club released earlier this offseason. The 31-year-old not only slots himself in with his former offensive coordinator, but is inserted into an offense with some dynamic pass-catching weapons like Davante Adams, Darren Waller, and Hunter Renfrow.
