The Patriots held on to Jimmy Garoppolo, allowing any team to blow them away with an offer, right up until the last day of the trade deadline. And they only got a (quality) second-round pick?
The blockbuster NFL trade Monday night that sent the backup quarterback to the 49ers was stunning in nearly every facet: There were no rumblings prior, New England had taken a hard-line stance about Garoppolo and, according to various reports, the Patriots were supposed to rake in a mammoth haul for a guy with the upside of being a franchise QB. Plus, they could always apply the franchise tag at the end of the season for Garoppolo, whose contract was expiring, and still trade him to a quarterback-desperate squad.
Granted, the San Francisco second-rounder likely will be practically a first, with the 49ers at 0-8. But around this year’s draft, there was speculation a team like Cleveland would only begin its offer with a first-round pick.
So what happened?
It appears the market for the East Illinois product, who has thrown 94 NFL passes, was overstated. According to NFL Network, the Browns only offered a second-round pick and change during the draft, never truly anteing up like most thought they would. On WEEI, ESPN’s Adam Schefter cautioned that the Patriots made it known they weren’t trading Garoppolo on draft day, which complicates what constitutes a trade offer. No one thought he was being moved, so no one really tried.
So New England played with the most competent backup quarterback in football behind a 40-year-old Tom Brady. For as long as they could this season, the Patriots gave Brady insurance and kept alive the hope that they could have a clear succession of Brady to Garoppolo, if Brady’s play slipped or if he got hurt.
But neither happened, and no contract extension with Garoppolo, who wants finally to be a starting quarterback, was reached. If they had kept the quarterback, turning 26 this week, and tried to franchise and trade him in the offseason, it would tie up their salary cap until a trade was consummated.
So with the trade deadline here, coming at 4 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, they reached for a trigger they were not eager to pull.