Report: Patriots still willing to trade Jimmy Garoppolo
The Jimmy Garoppolo trade rumors are back before they really went away.
News came out this week that the New England Patriots were no longer interested in trading quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
“They love Jimmy Garoppolo,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on SportsCenter. “They’re holding onto Jimmy Garoppolo. They view him as somebody they want around. They know the value of quarterbacks and they’re not in the market of getting rid of 25-year-old quarterbacks even if they have a year left on their contract. Jimmy Garoppolo is not going to be traded.”
I have to give Pete Prisco of CBS Sports some credit because he called the Patriots and Bill Belichick’s bluff in claiming that they’re just trying to drive up Garoppolo’s price. He seems to be right.
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Belichick’s close friend Michael Lombardi doesn’t believe the Pats are trying to drive up Garoppolo’s price.
This is not about increasing his value, this is the player being good, really good. https://t.co/Sy08t9KoaZ
— Michael Lombardi (@mlombardiNFL) March 1, 2017
Some teams cannot evaluate their own players correctly so how can they evaluare other teams players? Pats know what they have with Jimmy G
— Michael Lombardi (@mlombardiNFL) March 1, 2017
Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com is reporting that the Patriots are still willing to trade Garoppolo as long as the offer is right.
"The Patriots will still trade Jimmy Garoppolo if the offer is right, a league source told cleveland.com.“Everything is still on the table,” the source said."
Cabot says one offer has already been made and another is expected.
"But the source insists coach Bill Belichick will part with Garoppolo if the compensation is right. One preliminary ‘offer’ has already been floated and another is expected to come soon from a second team."
Cabot went on to report that nothing is expected to get done at the NFL Scouting Combine and the expectation is that New England wants a first round pick and more in exchange for Garoppolo.
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With a club like the Houston Texans being only a good starting quarterback away from competing for a Super Bowl, giving up a first and fourth round pick for Garoppolo would make sense.
I have a feeling that if Garoppolo does get traded, it may not happen until after the draft. Some teams may want to see how they fair in the draft and even free agency before pulling the trigger on a trade.
While quarterbacks like Jay Cutler and Colin Kaepernick aren’t great, teams can win with them. And if there’s one desperate team that doesn’t have a signal-caller they may be doing whatever it takes to acquire Garoppolo.
While Garoppolo’s body of work in the NFL has been limited after throwing only 63 passes this past season, it only takes one team willing to take a gamble on him.