Reports: Garoppolo signed waiver for foot injury

Paul Gutierrez, ESPN Staff WriterMay 29, 2023, 07:14 AM ET
Close
- Covered Oakland Raiders for CSNBayArea.com and Sacramento Bee for eight years
- Member of Pro Football Writers Association
- Previously worked at Los Angeles Times, Las Vegas Review-Journal and Sports Illustrated

HENDERSON, Nev. — An addendum to Jimmy Garoppolo‘s contract with the Las Vegas Raiders was a waiver that took the place of the quarterback taking a physical with the team, according to a copy of the deal obtained by multiple outlets.

“In the absence of this waiver, [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 read.

The provision, titled Addendum G, was initially reported by Pro Football Talk and later posted on social media by NFL Network.

The waiver addresses the foot injury that a source said Garoppolo underwent surgery for shortly after he signed his three-year, $72.75 million contract with the Raiders on March 17.

According to Pro Football Talk, the 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 season until he passes a physical. The waiver is voided if Garoppolo remains with the Raiders for two days after their final game of the 2023 season, according to the copy posted by NFL Network.

Garoppolo’s introductory news conference with the Raiders in March was postponed a day, though the quarterback dismissed that his foot injury — suffered while playing for the San Francisco 49ers on Dec. 4 — was the cause.

“No worry,” Garoppolo said March 18, 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.”

Garoppolo has not been on the field during organized team activities. While coach Josh McDaniels would not confirm whether Garoppolo had surgery, he did say there were no surprises in the quarterback’s “process” in Las Vegas.

McDaniels said it “could be” training camp when Garoppolo first takes the field.

“But everything that’s happened since we signed Jimmy, we knew ahead of time,” McDaniels said. “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.”

Veteran quarterback Brian Hoyer has been working with the first-team offense in OTAs. The Raiders also have Aidan O’Connell, whom they drafted in the fourth round out of Purdue, and Chase Garbers on their roster.