.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
Patriots backup QB Jimmy Garoppolo should demand a trade after the Super Bowl
HOUSTON — You could tell that Jimmy Garoppolo wanted to roll his eyes, but he was able to resist that urge.
That was an accomplishment for the Patriots’ third-year backup quarterback — you can only be asked the same question so many times in the span of an hour before you become peeved.
To sum up Garoppolo's answers for the media this week: No, he hasn’t thought about the impending offseason. And with that being the case, how could he know what his preferred destination is? He can say that he sure loves being Tom Brady’s understudy in New England, though. He's learned a lot.
Garoppolo was wise to be modest and carefully avoid saying anything that would draw more attention to himself in this, the most important week of the year for the Patriots.
But once the Super Bowl is over, Garoppolo should change that tune. Be a distraction, Jimmy — demand a trade out of New England this offseason.
Why?
Because there are tens of millions of dollars on the line.
And for that, he — like the thousands of Texans fans in the city the football world has descended on this week — can be angry at Brock Osweiler.
The Texans’ quarterback broke the market for free-agent signal callers this past offseason when he signed a $72 million deal with Houston and subsequently bombed his first season — it’s going to be a while before a team spends franchise-level money on an unproven quarterback on the open market again.
Garoppolo has one more season remaining on his rookie deal with the Patriots, and right now he has only two NFL starts to his name. They were excellent starts — you don’t go 42-of-59 for 496 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions, and two wins just because you play for the Patriots — but if Garoppolo’s resume doesn’t improve before he hits the open market in 2018, teams will fairly wonder if they’re walking into another Osweiler (or Matt Flynn) situation.
Garoppolo needs to be a starting quarterback in 2017 to prove that he’s worthy of big money — Osweiler money — in the 2018 offseason, and he’s going to need to pressure the Patriots to trade him if that’s going to happen.
There are teams that are reportedly interested in making a move for Garoppolo. The Browns might move one of their first-round picks — that’s the minimum presumed price the Patriots will put on Jimmy G — to land him, and his hometown Bears could opt to pursue the quarterback as well. The list will surely grow if Garoppolo actually hits the marketplace.
But the Patriots won’t make a move unless it disproportionately benefits them — that’s how Bill Belichick works — which could make Garoppolo's price tag in a trade so expensive (remember, Sam Bradford cost a first and a fourth round pick) that New England might not get an offer they’re willing to take.
After all, teams that would be interested in Garoppolo could just use that draft pick they were going to trade (and if they’re looking for a QB, it’s a low-number pick) on a younger, cheaper quarterback with plenty of potential, like DeShaun Watson or Mitch Trubisky. Then they could keep their fourth rounder (or whatever the kicker pick might be) and use it on, well, they could draft another quarterback — now they've doubled their chances of getting a good QB and neither will be a pending free agent.
Perhaps this is what the Patriots want — it’d keep Garoppolo around for a year, which would keep his open-market price low, and then New England could re-sign him at the end of next year for a slightly-better-than-backup money as an insurance policy or eventual successor for Tom Brady. [That guy has to stop playing well (or all together) at some point, right?]
But Garoppolo can’t wait on Brady — No. 12 might follow through on his desire to play until he’s 45. Garoppolo’s earning potential has never been higher than it is right now, at age 25, and he needs to recognize that and go all-in by driving down his trade value by demanding one.
Make no mistake, Garoppolo does have some clout in demanding a trade.
He just needs to tell the Pats that he wants to be traded, and if they don’t move him, he won’t re-sign with the team next offseason unless it’s for starting quarterback money.
That would put Belichick in an unenviable spot — would he franchise tag his backup quarterback or let a valuable asset leave for nothing?
If that’s his choice, a late first-round pick (with no kicker) or a couple of second rounders — fair deals — won't look so bad.
Perhaps Garoppolo has it all planned out — he even knows what his agent will tell the Pats. Perhaps he truly hasn’t given it a moment of thought.
But unless Tom Brady retires after Super Bowl LI or bludgeons commissioner Roger Goodell to death with the Lombardi Trophy (both seem equally plausible), Garoppolo better have a plan of action come Monday — the trajectory of career (and a lot of money) might depend on it.
