The Las Vegas Raiders made the signing of Jimmy Garoppolo official on Friday. However, they may not be done addressing their quarterback situation, as they hosted another veteran quarterback on Saturday.
The team notably let Jarrett Stidham walk in free agency, as he signed with the Denver Broncos. That means that the backup quarterback job is still up for grabs. Veteran quarterback Blaine Gabbert may be the perfect player to fill that role.
According to ESPN’s Field Yates, the Raiders hosted Gabbert on a visit on Friday to potentially become the backup for Garoppolo.
The Raiders hosted free agent QB Blaine Gabbert on a visit.
The team also re-signed OL Hroniss Grasu.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 18, 2023
Gabbert is most well-known for being a first-round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars. He most recently backup up Tom Brady for the past three seasons in his time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Many around the NFL world took notice of this development and offered some mixed opinions on Gabbert potentially heading to Las Vegas.
Tom Brady backups assemble!
Blaine Gabbert visited the Raiders Saturday
— lindsey ok (@lindseyyok) March 18, 2023
Blaine Gabbert!? What was Jimmy saying about how he wants to “earn,” the starting QB job.. https://t.co/MaTowZypjz
— AndrewG (@englishwithandr) March 18, 2023
https://t.co/9lPqBXaTNv pic.twitter.com/7iBkhoMCjc
— Jimmy James aka Raider Duke (@LaJeunesseArt) March 18, 2023
Blaine Gabbert?! Oh god please no..no…no NOOOOOOOOO #RaiderNation https://t.co/6oecrczS2j
— Jarin Vallinas (@jarin_vallinas) March 18, 2023
God help us…. this might mean that the team might be waiting for 2024 for a QB. https://t.co/lup1vr00LE
— Raiders History (@Oaklraiders1976) March 18, 2023
Gabbert has largely been a journeyman throughout his career, but his 11 years of NFL experience is certainly something that can be valuable to the Raiders quarterback room.
Whoever ends up backing up Garoppolo undoubtedly needs to be available to come in at a moment’s notice. Garoppolo notably missed the second half of the season last year after breaking his foot and is also coming off shoulder surgery that he underwent last offseason.
