Raiders get good news on Jimmy Garoppolo ahead of training camp

The Las Vegas Raiders received some great news regarding new starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo on Sunday as he reportedly passed his physical and will be ready for the start of training camp.

That report comes from ESPN's Adam Schefter and ends months of speculation as to whether or not he would be ready for the start of the season.

The Raiders signed Garoppolo to a three-year, $72 million contract to take over the starting role that was vacated by the release of veteran Derek Carr. The Raiders made that commitment despite knowing he would need surgery on his left foot following an injury that he sustained late in the 2022 season. There was enough concern for the Raiders that they made him sign a waiver as part of his contract, negating the need for a physical at the time of his signing.

He underwent the surgery in March.

Injuries have been a problem for Garoppolo in recent years, and the Raiders are taking a huge gamble that he can stay healthy and give them good enough quarterback play to compete in a tough AFC West.

He spent the past six seasons with the San Francisco 49ers and helped lead the team to a couple of NFC Championship games and a Super Bowl. Garoppolo was never a standout passer or franchise-caliber quarterback on any of those teams, but always played well enough to give his team a chance. He is probably not the type of player you are going to build a dominant passing team around, but he protects the football well and makes enough plays to win if he has a good supporting cast around him.

The Raiders do not have the same type of supporting cast he had in San Francisco—especially if starting running back Josh Jacobs sits out—so this is going to be the biggest challenge of his career.

The good news, though, is that by passing his physical he should be able to get on the field and get to work with his new teammates and in his new offense right away. Missing that training camp time and falling behind would have been a very bad start to what is already a risky contract situation.