Jimmy Garoppolo to the highest bidder if Patriots can hack together the right deal
COMMENTARY
In five years, or whenever Tom Brady’s magic meals hit their expiration date, Jimmy Garoppolo could be leading the Cleveland Browns to the promised land.
He might be helping build the NFL’s next dynasty in Houston with Bill O’Brien and the Texans. He could even be on the open market fielding mammoth offers from the Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots, both looking for a stud quarterback to replace their respective, retiring legends.
Or maybe he’ll be a backup for the Tennessee Titans, a la old friend Matt Cassel.
Whatever the future may hold for the 25-year-old commodity, it’s far from clear right now. Maybe he’s the next, best thing in Foxborough. Or maybe he’s the next name to join a litany of mistakes in Cleveland.
As if the Patriots didn’t already up the intrigue enough during the first official day of free agency by signing former Buffalo Bills cornerback Stephon Gilmore to a reported five-year, $65 million deal ($40 million guaranteed) and allowing trade rumors for Malcolm Butler to swirl, speculation in NFL circles regarding Garoppolo continues to fascinate.
A week after ESPN’s Adam Schefter declared the Patriots would not, no way, no how, trade the quarterback, perhaps an official signal that the team was planning on paving Brady’s retirement road at some point in the near future, the Browns continue to stockpile draft picks with the apparent hope they can get Bill Belichick to bite at a high enough price. On Thursday, Cleveland landed Houston mistake Brock Osweiler in a deal made mainly in order for the Browns to acquire the Texans’ second-round pick. The Browns immediately made it clear that they don’t intend on having Osweiler, signed by the Texans to a $72 million contract a year ago, as their quarterback, or even around their team next season, for that matter.
It also allows Houston to open up $10 million in salary-cap space and $16 million in cash should it chase after soon-to-be-former Dallas Cowboys star Tony Romo.
But if Romo does indeed head to Denver, as many have suggested, instead, does Texans head coach O’Brien come knocking on Belichick’s door for QB relief?
The possibilities have everybody involved a little jumpy. When Garoppolo posted a photo of himself on Instagram last weekend, holding up two fingers with the caption, “#LaFamiglia,” speculation ran wild. Was it a signal that he was headed to Cleveland for two draft picks? Was he saying goodbye to his New England “family?” Or was he just placing an order for meatball subs with Special Agent Utah?
There was even more fuel on Friday morning, when Garoppolo’s Instagram account featured an apparent message of farewell. “Peace out, Boston,” it read, posted around 4 a.m., prompting an early morning of speculation that seemingly culminated with what we always conclude when we can’t figure something out: He was reportedly hacked.
The Patriots told WBZ that they had “no comment,” which was probably another way of calmly reserving the expletives for whatever poor intern awoke the PR staff member who was on call at 5 a.m. to respond to a social media post. NFL Network’s Ian Rappaport, who reported on Thursday evening that the Browns intend to go after Garoppolo hard, said Friday morning that there haven’t even been any talks between the two teams as of yet.
Following the Osweiler trade, Cleveland now has three first-rounders and five second-rounders over the next two years. This year, the Browns have the No. 1 pick in addition to No. 12. The defending Super Bowl champs would want one of those to even begin discussions on Garoppolo.
Hey, life isn’t fair in the NFL. Unless you live here.
Reports claim that New England actually wants two first-round selections: one this year (either the first of the 12th) and one next season. While it’s been unlike Belichick to be willing to pay high first-rounder rookie salaries, he could always trade those picks for bundles of second-and-third-rounders. Then again, it’s rather unlike him to guarantee $40 million to a free agent out of nowhere, so maybe these are different times for the New England Patriots.
Which they should be. Brady will be 40 by the time the 2017 season begins, and despite all his recent greatness, it’s still an age when the unpredictable can occur in football, no matter how many mushrooms you manage to keep away from your dining room. His successor, whenever he might be needed, may already be here. He might also be a freshman in college, or — depending on how pliable Brady manages to be in convincing Gisele on a longer run — a senior in high school.
So, maybe they’re not trading the guy. Maybe Garoppolo is meant to enjoy his own, productive run here in New England.
If Belichick truly wanted to prove he had no heart when it came to his coldest football decisions, he’d have already put Brady on the trade table, seeing what he could get for an aging legend still on his first legs. He could then see the future with Garoppolo, signed to a long-term deal, and looking at a new era of Patriots football.
That’s not happening.
Yet, at least.
Maybe Garoppolo’s next social media share will tease such an unlikelihood.
Of course, he will have been hacked.
Peace out, Jimmy? Nope.
Not yet.
