Jimmy Garoppolo Trade “Not Happening”

The trade speculation around Jimmy Garoppolo has cooled in the months leading up to the draft. After the Patriots’ backup quarterback was viewed as a high-end trade chip to start this offseason, it appears going into the draft the door has slammed shut.

A draft-weekend trade involving Garoppolo is “not happening,” according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Schefter maintains the franchise hasn’t changed its stance since February on unloading the fourth-year passer.

Garoppolo is entering his contract year and would stand to be one of the most interesting free agents of 2018 if he were to get there, but for 2017, Bill Belichick wants him to return as Tom Brady‘s backup, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports. So, if the Patriots are going to pry a first-round pick from a team for a player next weekend, it would likely have to come from a Malcolm Butler deal.

Tom Curran of CSNNE.com said during an appearance on PFT Live it would take two first-round picks for the Patirots to consider parting with the 25-year-old passer. Florio points out that this doesn’t mean the Patriots were never going to trade Garoppolo, but they never received an offer they couldn’t refuse. The Browns were far and away the team that was most associated with Garoppolo interest, but they are not going to trade the No. 1 overall pick for him.

This stands to protect the Patriots against a Brady injury or decline during his age-40 season. The team made impact trades in March to fortify its 2017 roster, acquiring Brandin Cooks, Dwayne Allen and Kony Ealy, while sacrificing its first- and second-round draft picks. But New England looks set to keep Garoppolo as insurance rather than making a similar deal to add an impact player at another position.

The Browns were eyeing Garoppolo as recently as late March, with the organization believed to be gearing up for another run at the fourth-year player. But word came out of Cleveland earlier this week the team was unlikely to swing another deal for a veteran quarterback.

Retaining Garoppolo for 2017 would put the Patriots to a decision next year. The Patriots would, as of now, stand to have Brady set for his age-41 season — and virtually venturing into uncharted waters regarding top-caliber quarterback production at that age — and a 26-year-old backup whom they clearly believe can excel despite limited game work (94 pass attempts). Florio notes the franchise tag could be in order, or the tag-and-trade setup the team used to send Matt Cassel to the Chiefs in 2009. It cost nearly $22MM to use a tag on a quarterback this year, although the Redskins are paying more to Kirk Cousins after previously tagging him, and that number will go up in 2018.

A scenario could exist where both Garoppolo and Cousins are free agents next year, which would be a sharp deviation from the lower-level UFAs populating the quarterback market in recent years. But for now, it appears a fourth year of a Brady-Garoppolo depth chart will take shape in New England.