Raiders Trolled by Fans After Swapping Derek Carr for Jimmy Garoppolo in Free Agency

Almost one month to the day that Derek Carr was released by the Las Vegas Raiders, they have brought in his replacement by agreeing to a deal with Jimmy Garoppolo.

Per ESPN's Dianna Russini and Adam Schefter, Garoppolo will sign a three-year, $67.5 million deal with $34 million guaranteed to join the Raiders.

Carr was released on Feb. 14 after he declined to waive his no-trade clause and accept a deal with the New Orleans Saints. The Raiders were facing a Feb. 15 deadline to trade or release the 31-year-old before $40 million in his contract became guaranteed.

Amid some recent buzz that the Raiders might try to get involved in the Aaron Rodgers sweepstakes, fans of the silver and black were upset to see them swap out Carr for Garoppolo:

The Athletic's Tim Kawakami explained that the salary Garoppolo will command compared to what Carr's salary would have been if he had stayed could be significant for the Raiders:

Garoppolo is coming off a successful six-year run with the San Francisco 49ers. He put up solid numbers during that time, including 3,978 yards and 27 touchdowns in 2019 to help San Francisco reach the Super Bowl.

Last season was arguably the best of Garoppolo's career. He had 2,437 yards, 16 touchdowns and four interceptions in 11 appearances before a broken foot in Week 13 sidelined him for the rest of the year.

Durability has been a huge problem for Garoppolo. The 31-year-old has only played every regular-season game once since becoming a full-time starter in 2018. He's missed time with a torn ACL (2018), high-ankle sprain (2020) and broken foot (2022).

The Raiders are banking on Garoppolo's pre-established relationship with head coach Josh McDaniels to make the offense successful in 2023. McDaniels was the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots when they drafted Garoppolo in 2014.

Garoppolo played well in limited duty during his three seasons with McDaniels and the Patriots. He threw for 502 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions in two starts to open the 2016 campaign when Tom Brady was serving a four-game suspension for Deflategate.

But Garoppolo couldn't even make it through that four-week stretch without getting hurt. He sprained the AC joint in his shoulder, leading to Jacoby Brissett taking over as the starter for two games before Brady returned.

The Raiders have a solid foundation of talent around Garoppolo to maximize his ability. Davante Adams, Darren Waller, Hunter Renfrow and Josh Jacobs is a great group of skill-position players to throw to.