Time is ticking on Jimmy Garoppolo’s time as a backup quarterback for the New England Patriots, the Jacoby Brissett trade proved as much.
It was hard not to look at Saturday’s trade between the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots and be somewhat intrigued by it. The Colts sent Dorsett to the Patriots in exchange for quarterback Jacoby Brissett.
In hindsight, it was a good trade for both teams. The Colts need another quarterback on the roster as depth at the position is thin. Starter Andrew Luck is recovering from shoulder surgery that took place in January. As a result, Scott Tolzein will be the Week 1 starter.
In addition, there is no guarantee as to how Luck will perform once he returns. There may be some hiccups along the way as he tries to readjust to the pace of a game in the NFL.
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Aside from all of that, what this trade told me most is that a decision on what to do with Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is coming soon. He (at least on the depth chart) is next in line at the quarterback position after Tom Brady. By trading away Brissett, to me that meant the Patriots believe that Jimmy is the clear-cut No. 2 quarterback and maybe more, depending on how long Brady wants to stay in New England.
Skill-wise, it was easy to choose the No. 2 starter, however the Brissett trade eliminated all practical chances competition for the second starter. As a result, I believe Garoppolo’s future as a quarterback is coming into focus. As a Patriot, he has only gotten chances in garbage time or during Brady’s suspension at the beginning of the season last year.
Say what you want about him being a system quarterback or that he is the product of the Patriots’ system, but the fact of the matter is he played well during Brady’s suspension. Throwing for 502 yards and four touchdowns, he put the rest of the league on notice.
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Garoppolo has made it no secret that he wants to play, and I do not blame him. Brady is on a tear right now and shows no signs of slowing down. New England needs to make a decision on what to do with him and soon. Brissett is gone, and now the Patriots need to decide what to do with their other young quarterback. If anything is certain about this situation, it is that it will not be an easy one.