Last offseason, the Las Vegas Raiders paid Jimmy Garoppolo a decent amount of money to come in and be their starting quarterback. After some drama around the announcement of his signing and a foot injury, Garoppolo signed a three-year, $72.5 million deal. Given his connection with then-head coach Josh McDaniels, it made a certain degree of sense — even if the ceiling Garoppolo provides as a player isn’t all that high.
But then Garoppolo struggled pretty badly. He completed 65.1% of his passes, but only at an average of 7.1 yards per attempt, and he threw just 7 touchdown passes against 9 interceptions in his six starts. Eventually, he was benched in favor of fourth-round rookie Aidan O’Connell.
And according to superstar wide receiver Davante Adams, he was given the opportunity to okay the move.
“Well my opinion on that, was I signed off on that. And that’s just the reality of it,” Adams said during an episode of the new Netflix documentary, “Receiver,” via The Sporting News. “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.”
It’s interesting that Adams was approached about the switch, and that he said it had to happen in order for him to remain with the team. Given his stance on that issue, perhaps it’s not surprising that Adams has said this offseason that O’Connell should be the starting quarterback for the team in 2024.
“I want whoever is going to look the best when it’s live bullets,” Adams said during an interview with FOX Sports 1. “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.”
O’Connell was up and down during his tenure as the starter. The team went 5-5 in his starts, but he was less efficient as a passer than Garoppolo (62.1% completion rate, 6.5 YPA), but he did a better job of limiting turnovers as he had 12 touchdowns and just 7 picks. Again, the ceiling he provides as a player may not be all that high, but Adams may be more interested in the floor and just having a quarterback who can consistently get him the ball so he has an opportunity to make plays and carry the offense. O’Connell showed at least some ability to do that as a rookie, and unless Minshew convincingly outshines him in camp, the Raiders would probably be better off letting the sophomore passer try to prove he should be their long-term option under center.
