Breaking: Raiders to release former 49ers quarterback after he serves a two-game suspension…

| February 18, 2024 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Raiders to release former 49ers quarterback Garoppolo after he serves a two-game suspension.

NFL suspends Raiders backup QB Jimmy Garoppolo for violating PEDs policy

The NFL is suspending Garoppolo for the first two games of the 2024 season after the veteran quarterback violated the league’s Performance Enhancing Substances Policy, ESPN’s Adam Schefter first reported Friday morning before the news became official.

Raiders QB Jimmy Garoppolo is being suspended two games for violating the NFL’s Performance Enhancing Substances Policy, league sources told ESPN. The policy violation is related to him using a prescribed medication without having a valid Therapeutic Use Exemption, per sources.

Garoppolo signed a three-year, $72.7 million contract with Oakland last offseason after five-plus seasons with San Francisco.

In seven games (six starts) with the Raiders, Garoppolo completed 110 of 169 pass attempts (65.1 percent) for 1,205 passing yards with seven touchdowns and nine interceptions before the 32-year-old suffered a back injury and was replaced by veteran backup Brian Hoyer in Week 6, who then was replaced by rookie Aiden O’Connell for the remainder of the season.

NFL News: Jimmy Garoppolo suspended two games, to be released from Raiders per report - Niners Nation

Report: “Internal division” over whether Kenny Pickett or Mason Rudolph should start for Steelers

he Steelers don’t have a clear-cut No. 1 quarterback. And they apparently don’t have a clear-cut vision within the building about who the No. 1 quarterback should be.

As explained by Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “there appears to be some internal division that maybe Mason Rudolph should be the starter,” given his performance at the end of the season.

Of course, Kenny Pickett was drafted in the first round two years ago, with the idea that he’d be the heir to Ben Roethlisberger. After Pickett suffered a late-season ankle injury, however, Rudolph emerged — and the Steelers low-key benched Pickett for the veteran who had become buried on the depth chart and largely forgotten.

Rudolph is due to become a free agent next month. It’s not a given he’ll return to Pittsburgh. Where else, however, would he get a chance to be the starter?

Dulac also reports that the Steelers “are not interested in bringing in a quarterback who wants to be a starter.” Earlier this month, team president Art Rooney II didn’t rule it out.

Why wouldn’t they explore available alternatives to Pickett and Rudolph? Neither has done anything spectacular, frankly. Neither can compare to Kirk Cousins (who will be a free agent), Justin Fields (who could be available via trade), Ryan Tannehill (who will be a free agent), and Russell Wilson (who likely will be released and might take a veteran-minimum deal, since Denver owes him $39 million for 2024).

The Steelers are set in their ways, and they’re proud of it. They get comfortable with certain players and coaches, and they don’t like to change. That’s fine, but there are moments where it makes no sense.

As to the quarterback position, it makes no sense to flatly say “no thanks” when a potentially significant upgrade at the most important position on an NFL team is available.

That’s not to say the 2024 Steelers will fail. With coach Mike Tomlin in place, they’ll likely be on the right side of .500 — and they’ll have a great chance to make the playoffs. Without a quarterback who can deliver in the clutch during postseason games, however, it will be lather, rinse, repeat for a Steelers team that hasn’t won a playoff game since the 2016 season.

Falcons are the favorites to land Kirk Cousins, if he leaves the Vikings

The clock is ticking on the Vikings to re-sign quarterback Kirk Cousins before he becomes a free agent. And the window is open for folks to bet on his next team.

Friday’s PFT Live included a segment with the DraftKings odds for Cousins’s team in 2024. The Vikings remain the favorites, at -200.

The non-Minnesota favorite is Atlanta, at +300. Next is a return to Washington, at +500, and the Raiders at +800.

The Titans and Patriots are both at +1200, and the Steelers are at +1600.

Rounding out the field are the Bucs at +3500 and the Broncos and Bears at +5000.

The Falcons are definitely on the radar screen. Cousins’s wife, Julie, grew up in Alpharetta. Her parents still live there. If the Cousins family leaves their home for the last six years, why not return to a place that one of the two members of the marriage calls home?

It has to be intriguing for Cousins to play for the Falcons. The division is much weaker than the NFC North. Also, new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson traces to Sean McVay, same as Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell. New coach Raheem Morris is very respected in league circles. And the offense has players like Bijan Robinson, Kyle Pitts, and Drake London.

The market has shifted in the past couple of days (the Steelers were at +800, for example), but the top two (Minnesota and Atlanta) are unchanged.

So, yeah, the Vikings had better get their act together, if they truly want to keep Cousins. Once Atlanta gets a chance to make a push for Cousins (and it could happen at the Scouting Combine in little more than a week), it could be too late for the Vikings to do anything about it. And if Cousins signs with the Falcons, fans from 25 years ago will have flashbacks to the 1998 NFC Championship game.

Tags:, , , ,

Related Posts

About The Author

espnpro

Add a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *