As the 2016 season comes to an end, rumors have begun about possible trade scenarios regarding Patriot’s back-up signal caller, Jimmy Garoppolo. Garoppolo is entering the last year of his rookie contract and Tom Brady is showing no signs of slowing down at the end of a MVP caliber season. The Patriots are now in a position to trade away one of their most valuable prospects to help them win now, or risk losing him next off-season if he decides to leave in free agency.
With a less than stellar quarterback class entering this year’s draft, many teams with needs at the position will be calling Bill Belichick‘s phone to see what the asking price is for Garoppolo. As usual, the Cleveland Browns are still in search of a franchise signal caller. Since the team re-entered the league in 1999, they have been desperate for a true franchise quarterback. Mike Lombardi, previous Browns general manager and close friend to Belichick, has said publicly he believes the Browns will be the main suitor for Garoppolo.
Cleveland Browns: Potential Landing Spot for Jimmy Garoppolo?
Garoppolo as a Prospect
During his career in New England, Jimmy Garoppolo has thrown for 690 yards, five touchdowns, and no interceptions. The majority of his work came in the first two games of this season during Tom Brady’s suspension. Against the Arizona Cardinals he threw for 264 yards, with one touchdown. Garoppolo started his second game of the season strong against the Miami Dolphins, throwing for 232 yards, and three touchdowns through only two quarters. Unfortunately, in the first half, Garoppolo exited the game with a shoulder injury. The injury put a snag in Garappolo’s try out for the rest of the league, but he showed many promising skills that could lead to him being a future star. In his career, he has thrown 93 passes, and has never thrown an interception. His lone turnover came in a lost fumble against the Dolphins week one.
As a prospect coming out of Eastern Illinois in 2014, many believed Garoppolo to be a late first to second-round pick. The Patriots knew they didn’t have a reliable predecessor to Tom Brady in Ryan Mallett, so they spent a second-round selection on Garoppolo. While he is slightly undersized, Garoppolo possesses a quick-release, and spent the first three seasons of his career learning under quarterback guru, Bill Belichick. Many believe Garoppolo to be a system quarterback who will do no better than when Matt Cassel left New England after a stellar season in 2008. Only the future can tell what Garoppolo’s NFL success will be, but the Patriots are in a prime position to reap the rewards on a prospect they have developed for three years.
The Browns Interest
The Cleveland Browns are clearly in need of a quarterback. Robert Griffin has proven that he is not the same man he was as a rookie in Washington. While Cody Kessler has shown promise as a rookie out of USC, I don’t believe him to be an NFL caliber starter. Reports have come out that the Patriots are looking for both a first and fourth round draft pick for Garoppolo. Oddly enough these are the same picks the Patriots lost in the debacle that was “deflategate.” That is a very steep asking price for a quarterback who has yet to prove himself in the NFL. The Houston Texans are currently starting Tom Savage as their quarterback in week 17 after investing $72 million in Brock Osweiler over the offseason. This should serve as a warning to not invest too much in unproven quarterbacks.
With that being said, the Browns do have two first-round picks. If the season were to end today, they would be the first and tenth selections. With that number ten overall selection, the Browns could gamble on one of the top quarterbacks in this class such as DeShone Kizer, Mitch Trubisky, or Deshaun Watson. None of these prospects are sure things at the next level, but they all possess qualities to be future stars. Personally, I don’t believe Trubisky will fall to ten, but if Kizer is available, I think the Browns should pull the trigger. He has an ideal frame to last in the rugged AFC North, and he has the highest upside of any quarterback in the class. If I were calling the shots in Cleveland, I would at most be willing to give up the second round pick the team acquired from Tennessee.
The Browns have too many holes in their roster to give up such a high bounty for an unproven quarterback in Garoppolo. Honestly, I would be fine with taking Texas A&M defensive lineman Myles Garrett first overall and taking the best available defensive player with their second pick, say Jamal Adams out of LSU. This would go a long way in improving Cleveland’s putrid defense, and put the Browns in a position to draft a quarterback at the top of the 2018 draft.
