Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo had a waiver added to his contract prior to his signing in March, without which he would not have passed his physical due to a left foot injury that necessitated surgery.
The addendum stated that Garoppolo "acknowledges that in the absence of this waiver he would not pass the club's physical examination because of a preexisting medial 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," NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported on Sunday.
Pro Football Talk first reported the news on Garoppolo's contract on Saturday.
Garoppolo agreed to a three-year, $72.75 million contract in March. The move to Las Vegas came after more than five seasons in San Francisco, during which he enjoyed on-field success but also endured a number of major injuries, the most recent being a left foot injury that ended his 2022 season prematurely.
Garoppolo initially elected to rehab the injury in the hope that he could make a postseason return with the Niners, but he eventually had a "clean-up" procedure following his signing with the Raiders, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported on May 25.
The addendum to Garoppolo's contract stated the nature of his foot injury puts him at increased risk for future issues and that he "understands that such condition has decreased his ability to play professional football and that continuing to play professional football may result in deterioration, aggravation, or re-injury of the existing conditions rendering Player physically unable to perform the services that would be required of Player by an NFL Player Contract."
Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels told reporters on May 25 -- prior to the news of Garoppolo's surgery -- that Garoppolo had not yet been cleared to participate in OTAs.
"You won't see him today," McDaniels said at the time. "No, he's going through his process just like we knew he would. Nothing has happened that would surprise us based on the information we had."
McDaniels added that Garoppolo might not be able to practice until training camp.
The Raiders hold their mandatory minicamp from June 6-8.
Editor's note: A previous version of this story failed to attribute information to Pro Football Talk, which was first to report the story.
