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Adam Schefter, ESPN Senior Writer
Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is being suspended two games for violating the NFL’s performance enhancing substances policy, league sources told ESPN.
The policy violation is said to be related to Garoppolo using a prescribed medication without having a valid therapeutic use exemption from the league, according to sources.
Garoppolo will not appeal the suspension and will miss the first two games of the 2024 season, per sources.
Sources said the Raiders are expected to release Garoppolo before the fifth day of the new league year in mid-March, when he would earn an $11.25 million roster bonus. Garoppolo also has an $11.25 million base salary guarantee for the 2024 season that now could be voided because of the suspension.
The quarterback signed a three-year, $72.75 million contract that included $33.75 million guaranteed with Las Vegas in March, when Josh McDaniels was the team’s head coach and Dave Ziegler the general manager.
With Antonio Pierce now the coach and Tom Telesco the general manager, there is no connection or commitment to Garoppolo. The Raiders will be looking to add another quarterback in the draft, with some around the league believing that Las Vegas could make a strong play to trade up from the No. 13 pick that it currently holds.
Once the Raiders officially release Garoppolo, the two quarterbacks on their roster will be Aidan O’Connell and veteran Brian Hoyer, who also had ties to McDaniels and Ziegler from their time together in New England.
Garoppolo, 32, is expected to be looking for his third team in as many seasons, having played with the San Francisco 49ers in 2022 before he left to sign as a free agent with the Raiders in 2023.
Under NFL rules, he will be allowed to participate in all offseason activities and training camp with any team he signs with, but once the regular season begins, he will be barred from his new team for two weeks because of the suspension.