Jimmy Garoppolo was supposed to be the guy to the lead the Raiders to greener pastures, instead he became the perfect tool for star wide receiver Davante Adams to test his influence on the franchise.
The Las Vegas Raiders enter the 2024 season with a question mark at quarterback. After nine seasons of Derek Carr calling the signals, the team moved on from him following the 2022 season.
That opened the door for the team to sign former New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo as a free agent before the 2023 season.
The former Eastern Illinois star signed a nice three-year, $72.5 million contract, but he struggled from the onset.
In his first six starts Jimmy G completed over 65 percent of his passes, but for a paltry 7.1 yards per completion. His seven touchdown passes, and nine interceptions didn’t help his cause either, and he was eventually benched in favor of 2023 fourth-round pick Aidan O’Connell. But, the real kicker is former All-Pro wideout Davante Adams played a role in the move.
Adams Was In On Jimmy G Benching
It’s no secret that Adams wasn’t happy about the Raiders benching the aforementioned Carr late in the 2022 season. Carr, the franchise’s all-time leader in passing yards (35,222) and touchdowns (217), also happened to be Adams’ good friend and former QB at Fresno State and was the reason Adams was OK with coming to the Raiders. During a recent episode of the Netflix show the “Receiver” in which Adams is featured, he didn’t hold back on his involvement in the move to sit Garoppolo.
“Well my opinion on that, was I signed off on that,” Adams said. “And that’s the reality of it. You know, I love Jimmy and he’s a great guy, but something had to happen in order for us to have a chance down the stretch and in order for me to remain a Raider, in all honesty.”
Sounds like Adams gave the Raiders an ultimatum, either they sit Garoppolo or he would look to force his way out of Vegas. Adams’ opinion obviously carries some weight as the Raiders released Garoppolo at the beginning of free agency.
Aidan O’Connell The Long-Term Answer?
O’Connell started ten games, going 5-5, including what many considered a franchise-altering win at the back-to-back Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
For the season he completed just over 62 percent of his passes for an even lesser yards per attempt (6.5) than Garoppolo, but he protected the football much better, with 12 touchdown passes and just seven interceptions. It seems Adams saw enough from O’Connell to trust him as the starter, and he even told the folks at Fox Sports 1 this in a recent interview.
“I want whoever is going to look the best when it’s live bullets,” Adams said. “I think right now if I had to say, I think Aidan has the job, because obviously he was here before and that’s the way that it was. He was running with the one’s more and until Gardner Minshew comes in and takes the job away from him, I think it’s Aidan’s job right now.”
Adams seems comfortable with O’Connell, but in the same breath left the door open for newcomer and NFL journeyman Gardner Minshew to possibly unseat him if he’s better.
Aaron Rodgers Hinting At A Reunion With Adams
At at charity golf event this week Adams’ former QB Aaron Rodgers caused a little controversy when asked about how Adams would be used in the Raiders’ new offensive attack. In fact he responded in the only way he could:
“I love Davante Adams. I can’t wait to play with him again.”
In 108 games with the Green Bay Packers Rodgers connected with Adams for 622 receptions for 7,590 yards and 69 touchdowns.
