The first afternoon of free agency produced a big quarterback signing, although it wasn’t the Aaron Rodgers news many were looking for. Despite this, the signing of Jimmy Garoppolo with the Raiders will affect his value and the other players in the offense.
Las Vegas Raiders Sign Jimmy Garoppolo
Breaking: QB Jimmy Garoppolo is signing with the Raiders, per @diannaESPN and @AdamSchefter.
— ESPN (@espn) March 13, 2023
He is getting a three-year, $67.5M deal with $34M guaranteed, according to Schefter. pic.twitter.com/ZEKMRitS1P
According to Adam Schefter, Garoppolo is signing with the Las Vegas Raiders on a three-year, $67.5 million deal. This doesn’t mean the Raiders won’t draft a quarterback; however, there is no reason they’ll be trading up from the seventh pick now. More than likely, Garoppolo will be the day-one starter next year. Even so, there’s still a decent chance the Raiders take Will Levis or Anthony Richardson at pick seven.
Since Garoppolo looks like the bridge quarterback, this could work out nicely for everyone involved. If Richardson or Levis falls to the Raiders, both players would still have good long-term dynasty value despite not being a day-one starter. Even though we all want instant production, in this case, these two quarterbacks are incredibly raw, and sitting behind Garoppolo could be a good situation for them.
Jimmy Garoppolo: Stock Up
This gives Garoppolo a nice boost in value, as it looks like he’ll be the starting quarterback for the Raiders next season. In a Superflex league, having a starting quarterback is a huge advantage, so if you can get him relatively cheaply, I would do so. Regarding fantasy production, going back to 2019 and 2021, when Garoppolo started 16 and 15 games, he put up a solid performance.
During this time period, Garoppolo was the QB20 in 2019 and QB14 in 2021. Neither of these seasons was a league-winning performance, but grabbing a QB2 in a Superflex league for cheap can give you an edge over your league mates, as the position is extremely valuable. The Raiders could be an ideal fit for Garoppolo as he reunites with his former offensive coordinator from the Patriots, Josh McDaniels. This could work very well because the two have history, and Garoppolo is comfortable in the West Coast offense, which is what McDaniels runs.
On the other hand, there’s no guarantee that Garoppolo is even a serviceable quarterback since he is coming off a pedal foot fracture on top of a long list of previous injuries. If you can buy Garoppolo off an owner looking to sell him at a low price, I would do so due to the floor he provides.
The Receivers: Stock Stays The Same/Slightly Up
Where Garoppolo should see a considerable increase in value, I don’t expect much to change with the other members of this offense. Josh Jacobs could slightly benefit from this move since Garoppolo isn’t very mobile and has shown the willingness to dump the ball off to his running back with the 49ers. Garoppolo has also always been in a run-heavy offense, so I expect Jacobs to continue to get a significant amount of volume.
In terms of passing efficiency, Davante Adams, Darren Waller, and Hunter Renfrow should see a slight improvement if Garoppolo returns to his former form. In each of Garoppolo’s and Derek Carr’s last healthy seasons, Garoppolo threw for 288 more yards than Carr on 61 fewer pass attempts.
However, it should be noted that Adams wasn’t thrilled with this trade. According to Adams’s Instagram story, he had this to say about the situation, “If we haven’t talked in the last three months, don’t hit me about this s**t. Thanks” (@taeadams). This should be an interesting situation to monitor, but I don’t foresee any major problems between the two in the future.
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