The New England Patriots were intent on paying Jimmy Garoppolo starting quarterback money to be Tom Brady’s backup moving forward. Though, the long-term feasibility of this was minimal with the former second-round pick wanting to start moving forward.
That’s the primary reason New England sent shockwaves throughout the NFL Monday evening by trading the heralded backup to the San Francisco 49ers (more on that here).
Now that the trade has been made official, we’re getting responses from both teams involved in the in-season blockbuster trade. That includes Patriots head coach Bill Belichick who had some interesting comments about his now former quarterback.
Bill Belichick says he has "tremendous respect for Jimmy (Garoppolo)"…SF is getting a "good player…good person…and great teammate…"
— Bob Socci (@BobSocci) October 31, 2017
Belichick believes the Pats had the best QB situation in the NFL but that was "just not sustainable…rode it out as long as we could…"
— Bob Socci (@BobSocci) October 31, 2017
Belichick says the Pats "explored every option to sustain (their QB situation)" but it was a "complex situation on multiple levels…"
— Bob Socci (@BobSocci) October 31, 2017
Belichick says re Garoppolo trade that "this is the last window we had" and they had a (QB) "decision looming the last couple of years."
— Bob Socci (@BobSocci) October 31, 2017
There’s a whole lot to take in here. Obviously, the Pats didn’t move on from Garoppolo because they somehow lost faith in him. It was a business decision, one for the long term.
If the team had decided to keep the backup beyond Tuesday’s trade deadline, it faced the real possibility of losing him for free this upcoming March. Instead, the Pats added what promises to be a high second-round pick in next year’s draft.
And while keeping Garoppolo as the team’s backup made sense from a roster perspective, it wouldn’t have made a whole lot of sense financially. New England would have had to either place the transition or franchise tag on Garoppolo to keep him from hitting free agency. That would have come in the form of $20-plus million annually.
Now with Garoppolo in California, New England has just one quarterback (Tom Brady) on the roster. The team will definitely be looking to add another veteran, with Brian Hoyer becoming the likeliest possibility.