Bombshell Jimmy Garoppolo news could open door for a Tom Brady return to the field?
Recent news regarding Jimmy Garoppolo and his foot injury might end up being excellent news if Tom Brady wanted to get back onto the field. Just imagine for a second if what I'm about to propose, and what others have already said, comes true.
A recent bombshell report indicates that now Las Vegas Raiders' quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo failed his initial physical with the Raiders when he signed with them in free agency. The foot injury he suffered in the 2022 season seems to be taking it's good old time to heal. Garoppolo has struggled with injuries throughout his career, so him being hurt is nothing new, unfortunately.
But, here is where this gets messy for Garoppolo.
"PFT has obtained Garoppolo’s contract. It contains a critical final clause — Addendum G — that addresses the foot injury Garoppolo suffered during the 2022 season, and for which he had surgery after signing with the Raiders.
- Mike Florio
Addendum G is a waiver and release. In the first paragraph, the waiver acknowledges that, without it, Garoppolo would not pass the team’s physical “because of a preexisting medal and middle cuneiform and a fracture of the base of the second metatarsal in the Player’s left foot and that the Club would not enter into an NFL Player Contract with Player.” It’s the injury he suffered during the 2022 regular season, opening the door for Brock Purdy to play."
Without getting into the legal and contractual language that may confuse us all, basically, the deal here is that there is a special clause in his Raiders' contract that essentially says the team can move on from Garoppolo at no cost if he cannot pass a physical specifically due to his foot injury.
"The contract preserves the team’s ability to terminate the agreement with no further obligation, “for any reason related to the Waiver and Release attached as Addendum G.” The waiver becomes null and void if at any time during the 2023 season, Garoppolo passes a physical exam, is active for at least one regular-season game, and does not suffer re-injury to his left foot in the manner described in Addendum G."
- Mike Florio
He hasn't yet passed a physical, and will have to do so at some point before the regular season. If he can pass a physical, then this whole thing becomes irrelevant for the most part, but if he cannot, the Raiders might just move on from him. Now, in the latter scenario, the next man up on their roster would be... Brian Hoyer? Rookie Aidan O'Connell? Chase Garbers?
You see where I'm going with this, right? Tom Brady will become a minority owner of the Raiders, but the NFL approval for that has yet to happen. This seems like a pretty cut and dry situation, so I don't think there is any reason to believe Brady won't get approval.
Let's say Brady does get approval and Garoppolo cannot pass a physical; do the Raiders really put their trust into Brian Hoyer or Aidan O'Connell? Would they make a move for a veteran QB like Ryan Tannehill or even Carson Wentz? Marcus Mariota perhaps?
I think it's clear that Josh McDaniels needs to win a ton of games this year or his future as the Raiders' HC might be in jeopardy. Well, Tom Brady is* a minority owner of the Raiders... so, you see where I'm going with this, right?
Could Brady already step back into the NFL? Brady knows McDaniels very well and many current Raiders' players were on the Patriots. The Raiders are really just the Patriots of the AFC West. Now, if this were to happen, Brady would have to get more approval from the league to play on the field since he'd be an owner, which may be another battle.
But, I think we can see the pipeline begin to form here. Garoppolo fails physical. Raiders move on. Raiders don't have another viable QB on the roster. Tom Brady swoops in to save the day.