What Can The New England Patriots Expect In a Jimmy Garoppolo Trade?
By Matt LaPan
The New England Patriots have extended Tom Brady through 2019. Does this mean they are going to trade Jimmy Garoppolo?
According to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the New England Patriots and quarterback Tom Brady have agreed to a two-year contract extension that will keep the four-time Super Bowl champion in New England through the 2019 season. The deal will bring Brady to 20 season’s with New England, likely making him a New England Patriot for life.
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Shortly after the news broke, many around New England and the country started speculating that the Patriots would be placing backup quarterback, and 2014 second-round pick Jimmy Garoppolo on the trade block.
Garoppolo’s rookie contract will keep him with the Patriots through the 2017 season, meaning his contract will expire before Brady is ready to hand over control of the New England offense.
The idea of dealing Garoppolo to try and recoup draft picks for 2016 is a good one – however expectations need to be tempered on what the Patriots could reasonably expect in a trade for Garoppolo.
While some believe Garoppolo could bring a late 1st Round draft pick or an early second-round pick, the recent history of backup quarterbacks being traded shows that the Patriots would be lucky to receive that compensation for a quarterback entering his third NFL season.
The NFL has recently seen the likes of Matt Cassel, Ryan Mallett and Ryan Fitzpatrick be moved via trades. There has also been a quarterback swap that involved Sam Bradford and Nick Foles. The common component in each of these trades were teams in need of improved quarterback play that did not send high draft compensation for their new quarterback.
It is rare that a near-perfect comparison can be made in a situation such as this – but the Ryan Mallett situation is close to that. Mallett served as a backup in New England after being selected by the Patriots in the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft. Mallett served as the primary backup for two seasons under Brady.
This is the same amount of time that Garoppolo has served as the primary backup for Brady with neither player getting any extended playing time in regular season action. While Garoppolo does not have the direct competition that Mallett had when he was traded – Mallett only brought back a conditional seventh-round draft pick.
When Mallett moved to the Texans, Houston decided to trade their incumbent starter Ryan Fitzpatrick to the New York Jets. While Fitzpatrick was initially being sent to the Jets as a backup option, he only fetched a conditional seventh-round draft pick.
In the offseason’s most marquee move, the then-St. Louis Rams (now based in Los Angeles) and the Philadelphia Eagles swapped Nick Foles and Sam Bradford. With Foles, the Rams received a fourth- and second-round pick for the former number-one overall pick. This has been the lone high draft capitol that has moved for a quarterback – and it took the former top pick moving teams.
Garoppolo is an intriguing prospect for many teams to trade before, but it is extremely unlikely that they would part with equal draft capitol for him. The Patriots would likely require at least a second-round pick for their strong-armed backup. He does have a strong arm, a compact delivery and good accuracy, but teams still have to question if he can read an NFL defense as well as if he can adapt to a NFL playbook.
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With these concerns and the fact that Garoppolo is the highest quarterback ever selected by Bill Belichick, it is unlikely Garoppolo would move. Past quarterback trades along with the Patriots valuing a solid backup would likely drive the price too high. If a team would be willing to offer a high pick for Garoppolo, the Patriots would likely listen – but the prospect of that is unlikely.