Jimmy Garoppolo on mindset joining Raiders - 'I need to earn everything'

HENDERSON, Nev. — The first time Jimmy Garoppolo met Josh McDaniels? Garoppolo was on a pre-draft visit with the New England Patriots in the spring of 2014 and McDaniels, then the Patriots' offensive coordinator, was running the quarterback through his offense on the whiteboard.

«I don't know if it was planned, but I swear he planned it — Tom Brady walked in,» Garoppolo, laughing, said Friday. «And I thought it would throw me off a little bit because I had never met him before, and a little starstruck. But yeah, he walked out, and Josh kept going with the teaching. That was our first interaction.»

The Garoppolo-McDaniels reunion, nine years later and in Las Vegas, had been delayed a day because of some last-minute contract «language,» Garoppolo said in his 17-minute introductory news conference with the Raiders. The two sides on Monday had agreed in principle to a three-year, $67.5 million free agent deal that includes $34 million guaranteed.

Garoppolo, 31, replaces Derek Carr, who had been the Raiders starter since 2014 but was benched with two games remaining last season by McDaniels, in his first year as Raiders coach. Carr, who holds most Raiders career franchise passing records, stayed away from the team to end the season and was released on Feb. 14. He has since signed with the New Orleans Saints.

With a career regular-season record of 40-17, Garoppolo has passed for 14,289 yards and 87 touchdowns with 42 interceptions while completing 67.6% of his attempts in 74 games. He has also played in seven playoff games, going 4-2 as a starter, including a Super Bowl LIV loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Still, with Garoppolo's injury history — he missed his final five games with the San Francisco 49ers because of a Lisfranc