Dramatic 4-Team Trade Proposal Has Patriots Landing Jimmy Garoppolo

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Bill Belichick

Who’s down for a return of Jimmy Garoppolo to the New England Patriots?

In one trade scenario from ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, which was designed to find a way for the Green Bay Packers to land the Houston Texans’ disgruntled star quarterback Deshaun Watson, the Patriots procure their next starter.

Here is a look at the proposed trade:

• Packers send: QB Aaron Rodgers (to 49ers), 30th overall pick in 2021, QB Jordan Love (to Texans)
• 49ers send: 12th overall pick in 2021, 2022 first-round pick (to Texans), 2022 second-round pick (to Packers), QB Jimmy Garoppolo (to Patriots)
• Texans send: QB Deshaun Watson (to Packers), 2022 fourth-round pick (to 49ers)
• Patriots send: 142nd overall pick (to 49ers)

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Is Garoppolo the Answer?

Garoppolo’s career has been far more about potential than actual accomplishment. For the first three years of his career, Garoppolo was the young quarterback earmarked to take over for Tom Brady in New England.

Brady’s tenure stretched longer than many might have expected, and his spot in Sunday’s Super Bowl is further proof of the legend’s near-unprecedented longevity. Meanwhile, in 2016, the San Francisco 49ers made the Patriots an offer they couldn’t refuse and the then-26-year-old was dealt to the Bay for the 43rd pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.

Since arriving in San Francisco, Garoppolo has been solid but not spectacular. He has a 98.1 passer rating with the 49ers, 46 TD passes to only 26 INTs and his QB record is an impressive 22-8. Perhaps most importantly, he helped the 49ers to the Super Bowl LIV in 2020 when they fell to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Garoppolo was the definition of a game manager during the Niners’ postseason run in 2019. In 3 postseason contests, he had a total of 58 pass attempts, and 3 of them were intercepted–including 2 in the Super Bowl.

As relatively mediocre as those stats might seem, durability has been a bigger issue than the quality of play for the now-29-year-old. Garoppolo has missed 33 games in 4 years having only appeared in all 16 games once (2019). He missed 10 games this season as nearly the entire 49ers roster dealt with injuries at various points of the year.

Because of his history, the Patriots shouldn’t feel too comfortable if they were able to re-acquire Garoppolo. Having Garoppolo and Cam Newton along with a rookie quarterback might be the best-case and most practical scenario.

The Feasibility of this Trade

Quite honestly, the chances of the Green Bay Packers parting ways with Aaron Rodgers in 2021 seems slim. It appears the Packers don’t want to repeat the messy breakup they had with Brett Favre when Rodgers took over for him, and that might be because Jordan Love simply isn’t as ready for the task.

Rodgers was without a question poised to be the man when Favre was somewhat forced out of Green Bay in 2008. Love, who accumulated no stats as a rookie in 2020 probably isn’t anywhere near as far along, especially considering the pandemic likely robbed him of valuable time to become acclimated to the pro game.

While it would make sense for Green Bay to hit restart with an elite young quarterback like Watson who is 13 years younger than Rodgers, but arguably just as good, it would still be quite the bold move for the Packers to trade a future Hall-of-Famer following an MVP-caliber season along with the man they drafted in the first round last year to ultimately succeed him.

Also Read:

• Patriots Star Sounds Off on Cam Newton’s Potential Return
• Patriots’ Trade Offer for Matthew Stafford Revealed
• Wild Trade Proposal Has Patriots Dealing Jackson, Harry, and Picks for Star
• Pro-Bowl QB Reportedly Shuns the New England Patriots
• Patriots Potential QB and TE Targets Called ‘Next Brady and Gronk’