AFC East Notes: Garoppolo, Jets, Workouts

December 10th, 2016 at 9:39am CST by Ben Levine

Where will Jimmy Garoppolo be playing next season? Well, if you ask former Browns and Patriots executive Mike Lombardi, he believes the young quarterback will be playing in Cleveland.

“The next quarterback that’ll be the Cleveland Browns’ quarterback perhaps is Jimmy Garoppolo in New England,” Lombardi said on FS1’s Speak for Yourself (via Nate Ulrich of Ohio.com). “I think Cleveland understands, [coach] Hue Jackson specifically understands he needs a quarterback. I think they’ll be very aggressive. I think Jimmy Garoppolo’s on top of their list, and I think they’ll go hard after him.”

The Browns are stocked with picks for the upcoming draft, including a pair of firsts and a pair of second-rounders. Furthermore, the two teams have already made a pair of trades this year in the Barkevious Mingo deal and the Jamie Collins deal.

Assuming the Browns aren’t going to pursue some of the available veteran options, Garoppolo could be the most attractive option. In two full games this season, the former second-rounder completed 70-percent of his passes for 496 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions. The 25-year-old will be entering the final year of his rookie contract in 2017.

Let’s check out some more notes out of the AFC East…

Ben Volin of The Boston Globe suggests (via Twitter) another suitor for Garoppolo: the Bears. Volin tweets that Chicago desperately wants a young quarterback, and he also notes that the Patriots signal-caller is from Chicago and went to Eastern Illinois. Volin also suggests the 49ers and Cardinals as potential landing spots.
ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini details how the Jets can get under the cap and clear about $50MM worth of space. In a vacuum, the team could cut or trade several notable veterans to get to that threshold, including Brandon Marshall, Nick Mangold, David Harris, Ryan Clady, Breno Giacomini, and Sheldon Richardson (trade). Of course, as Cimini notes, cutting that many veterans would create some giant holes on the roster.
Wideout Quincy McDuffie worked out for the Jets yesterday, tweets agent Brett Tessler. McDuffie spent the 2016 season with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and Tessler notes that the speedy wideout is widely regarded as the best return man in the CFL.