After making everyone wait another 24 hours, the Raiders finally introduced Jimmy Garoppolo as their new quarterback on Friday.
Garoppolo was scheduled to be introduced on Thursday, but the Raiders ended up canceling his press conference. The quarterback was scheduled to meet the media at 12:00 a.m. PT on Thursday, but after making everyone wait about two and a half hours, the Raiders announced that the press conference was not going to take place and would be postponed. See you Friday.
When the press conference finally took place on Friday, one of the first questions Garoppolo was asked was about the delay. Apparently there was a contract clause that needed to be ironed out.
“He spoke honestly, [contract] language, things like that,” Garoppolo said via PFT. “Both sides, I think, knew what we wanted to do. It was very collaborative, actually, just us together.”
When the postponement originally happened, some Raiders fans immediately feared the worst. Many fans on Twitter feared the quarterback failed his physical exam which would have voided the deal.
The good news for the Raiders is that a failed physical certainly didn’t cause the delay.
Although Garoppolo didn’t hold his press conference until Friday, he was at the Raiders facility on Thursday and we know it because the team shared video of the quarterback meeting with his former pal, Josh McDaniels. . The Raiders coach spent three seasons with Garoppolo in New England.
Not only did Garoppolo finally hold his first press conference with the team on Thursday, but he also took a photo with his new uniform.
Garoppolo, expected to be the Raiders’ Week 1 starter this year, will be the first unnamed QB Derek Carr to start an opener for the team since 2013 when Terrelle Pryor opened the season as a starter.
