Jimmy Garoppolo's lingering foot injury reportedly resulted in a waiver being placed inside the quarterback's contract that gives the Raiders the power to effectively cut him, creating the possibility of him never playing a down for the franchise. Given that Garoppolo underwent surgery on that foot in March and has yet to participate in OTAs with Las Vegas, that has sprouted fodder of the Raiders actually pulling the lever on that addendum and nullifying the contract. The next question that follows whether or not they should void his deal surrounds who'd play quarterback for the Raiders in 2023.
And that's when Tom Brady's name enters the chat.
Brady is currently retired and despite the seven-time Super Bowl champion saying that this time was "for good" there has been plenty of speculation that points to the contrary. So, would this be a situation where Brady could realign with his former offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and play for the Raiders if Garoppolo is exiting stage right? Anything is certainly possible, but it does appear that this could be a long shot.
Brady is currently in the process of buying a small piece of the Raiders organization. He and owner Mark Davis have already agreed to terms and the deal has been submitted for review by league owners to approve. Brady will need 24 of 32 owners to approve his minority stake.
As that process moves forward, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that owners may put in a stipulation that they'll approve the transaction with the provision that Brady is fully retired. If that turns out to be the case, Brady would then be unable to both own a piece of and play for the Raiders. And if Brady were to avoid that provision and did try to play for the Raiders as a minority owner, that would still require approval from every single owner in the NFL. With that in mind, it'd seem borderline impossible for Brady to pursue NFL ownership while also mulling yet another comeback, whether that be in Las Vegas or anywhere else.
It's worth noting that the Raiders were reportedly aware that Garoppolo needed surgery before they signed him to a $67.5 million contract earlier this offseason. Head coach Josh McDaniels recently said the team is aiming for him to be fully healthy by the start of training camp. So, the most likely outcome here is that Garoppolo is the Raiders quarterback in 2023, but this latest revelation of his contract does open the door for them to cut bait, thus triggering all this Brady owner/player chatter.