The drafting of an NFL contract can contain surprising clauses, as Kyler Murray demonstrated last season. Jimmy Garoppolo’s contract, freshly signed in Las Vegas, goes directly to the Hall of Fame with a clause that can allow the agreement to be canceled purely and simply before the season.
It is the journalist Ian Rapoport, of NFL media, who obtained a copy of the player’s contract. And the latter shows that the delay in signing was related to the condition of the foot of the former Niners, who had surgery this spring.
Amendment “G” (it can not be invented) of the contract begins by specifying that on March 17, the player was not in condition to practice football at the professional level:
Jimmy Garoppolo and the Las Vegas Raiders acknowledge that the player is unable to pass franchise physicals due to the presence of a hunchbacked tarsus and a fracture at the base of the second metatarsal, and that the franchise wouldn’t sign him as is.
Garoppolo must pass a medical examination and play a match without injury
After this observation, the franchise presents the risks for Jimmy Garoppolo to continue playing football, and the vision of the player:
Under these conditions, the player is at risk of increased frequency of injuries, having to undergo operations, permanent disability, loss of motor skills, and other foot problems. […] The player understands that this situation has diminished his ability to play football, and that continuing this activity may result in a deterioration of his overall condition. […] However, the player confirms his desire to continue playing football despite the risks previously exposed.
Garoppolo therefore knows the risks, which are immense, but wants to continue playing football. The Raiders also still seem keen on signing him. It is this situation that will lead to this strange arrangement, where the player relieves the franchise of all responsibility and authorizes the franchise to terminate the contract without any consequences.
The contract therefore preserves the team’s ability to terminate the agreement without 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 sustain further left foot injuries as described in Addendum G.
So it’s all or nothing for Jimmy Garoppolo, who is suspended until the start of the season.
