New Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is excited about the opportunity to work with head coach Josh McDaniels again.
“He’s very smart,” Garoppolo said of McDaniels during his introductory press conference with the Raiders on Friday. “He taught me the game of football, basically, in the NFL. But he cares, too, about the game. He cares about winning. You can really tell just by talking to him that winning is important to him, and I wouldn’t say that’s true about everyone in the NFL. When you do get an opportunity like that, it’s hard to pass up.”
Garoppolo, who played the last five-plus seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, signed a three-year, $67.5-million deal with the Raiders on Monday. He spent his first three years in the NFL with the New England Patriots, where he was part of an offense coordinated by McDaniels.
The 31-year-old signal-caller said it won’t take him long to pick up McDaniels’ offense in Las Vegas as he transitions from the offensive system that coach Kyle Shanahan runs in San Francisco.
“Kyle’s offense versus Josh’s offense, just (a) different mindset behind it,” he said.
He added: “It’s basically going from Spanish to French.”
In Las Vegas, Garoppolo will replace Derek Carr, whom the Raiders cut in February after nine seasons. Las Vegas entered the 2022 campaign with high expectations after hiring McDaniels and making big-money acquisitions on both sides of the ball, but the team didn’t live up to the hype, finishing the campaign 6-11.
The Raiders haven’t won a playoff game since the 2002 season, having made just two postseason appearances since.
“I’m trying to win the Super Bowl,” Garoppolo said.
He added: “I wanna go get a ring, get the Silver and Black back to where it should be.”
Garoppolo went 38-17 during the regular season as a starter for San Francisco and helped the 49ers reach Super Bowl LIV, falling short against the Kansas City Chiefs.
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