Josh McDaniels Pushed To Sign Jimmy Garoppolo Despite The GM Calling It: ‘Terrible Decision’

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Raiders owner Mark Davis fired head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler last week after they lost 16 of 25 games with the team, now we’re learning some of the issues behind the scenes.

Part of the reason McDaniels tenure failed is the signing of ex-Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who McDaniels worked with when he coached there.

Garoppolo signed a three-year, $72.75 million deal in free-agency this offseason, after spending the past few seasons as a starter on the 49ers, but losing his job to Brock Purdy.

However, as usual with Garoppolo, he dealt with a number of injuries and even worse, poor play, as he’s currently leading the league in interceptions with 9 despite playing fewer games than other starting quarterbacks.

It turns out, Dave Ziegler tried to talk Josh McDaniels out of signing Garoppolo, according to Sports Illustrated’s Hondo Carpenter.

“Dave and Josh disagreed on a lot”, adding “Josh was in charge. Josh wanted Jimmy Garoppolo, and Dave thought it was a terrible decision.”

Following the firing of McDaniels, Mark Davis named Antonio Pierce the interim head coach, who benched Garoppolo in favor of rookie Aidan O’Connell and the team immediately thrived, as they went on to beat the Giants 30-6 in Pierce’s first game as coach.

Seems Josh McDaniels was really wrong for the job.