The Raiders are benching quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. The next question is whether they’ll cut him.
It’s somewhat similar to last year’s late-season decision to put quarterback Derek Carr in bubble wrap. They needed him to be able to pass a physical before some $40 million in injury-guaranteed salary became fully guaranteed, just after the Super Bowl. They chose to keep him out of harm’s way. They eventually released him.
As it turns out, Garoppolo’s revised contract removed any incentive to cut him now. As originally negotiated, the contract had an $11.25 million base salary for 2024, guaranteed only for injury. It also had an $11.25 million roster bonus that became fully guaranteed on the fifth day after contract execution.
The revised contract that was finalized after Garoppolo failed his physical made the 2024 base salary fully guaranteed, and it removed any guarantee for the 2024 roster bonus. So they’re on the hook for the base salary in 2024; they can release him after the season and avoid the $11.25 million roster bonus.
That said, the guarantees have offset language. They could pay him the full amount and keep him on the roster, or they could cut him and save some of the money, if/when he signs elsewhere. (No team would have any incentive, however, to sign him for more than the league minimum, given the guarantees.)
Since the financial impact is the same either way, the question is whether they want him around, if he’s not the starter. He has not played well, and it’s possible that interim coach Antonio Pierce would like to make a clear statement to the locker room by cutting the cord on the player who has been holding back the offense more than any other.
UPDATE 11:13 p.m. ET: A prior version of this article mistakenly confused the terms of Garoppolo’s original contract with the terms of his revised contract. I apologize for the error.
