Davante Adams ‘signed off’ on Jimmy Garoppolo benching in Raiders ultimatum
Netflix’s “Receiver” series is giving fans a glimpse into the stresses of being an NFL star receiver — including handling bad quarterback play.
One episode shows Las Vegas Raiders star Davante Adams opening up about the team benching starter Jimmy Garoppolo in favor of rookie Aidan O’Connell in Week 9.
Adams even suggests that the move had to be made if he was to stay with Las Vegas.
“My opinion on that was I signed off on that,” Adams said, as first noted by The Sporting News.
“That’s just the reality of it. I love Jimmy, and he’s a great guy. But something had to happen in order for us to have a chance down the stretch, and for me to remain a Raider, in all honesty.”
After signing a three-year, $72 million deal with Vegas during the 2023 offseason, Garoppolo played in seven games, making six total starts before the fourth-round pick took over for the rest of the season.
During that stretch of Garoppolo as the starter, the Raiders went 3-3, and Garoppolo performed as a below-average quarterback.
The 32-year-old finished his shortened season with a 65.0 Pro Football Focus passing grade, which ranked 28th among quarterbacks with 190 or more dropbacks during the 2023 season.
In March, Las Vegas cut Garoppolo — who is suspended for two games to start 2024 — enabling him to sign a one-year deal to back up Matthew Stafford with the Rams.
Adams’ production wasn’t hindered much despite the quarterback issues.
The 31-year-old ended the season with 103 catches for 1,114 yards and eight touchdowns, all of which were at least top-15 in the league last season.
Although O’Connell didn’t perform much better — closing the season with a 65.9 overall and 64.6 PFF passing grade — the Raiders found their footing under interim head coach Antonio Pierce, finishing 5-4 down the stretch.
Las Vegas secured several impressive wins with their new coach, including at Kansas City in Week 16 and a dismantling of the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 15.
Beyond that, Pierce’s Raiders made games considerably more competitive, showing life in losses to the Dolphins, Vikings and Colts late in the year.
Even after securing Pierce as the franchise’s next full-time head coach, considerable questions remain under center, with O’Connell and veteran backup Gardner Minshew battling for QB1 status.
Although former Packers teammate Aaron Rodgers has clamored to play with Adams again, it seems that the receiver will stay in the silver in black for the immediate future.
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