NFL Trade Rumors: Patriots’ Jimmy Garoppolo To Browns For NFL Draft Pick
Brand new NFL trade rumors have been raised as it appears the New England Patriots’ backup quarterback could be on the move. It will mostly depend on whether or not the Patriots want to part ways with Tom Brady’s successor in New England, Jimmy Garoppolo, but the Cleveland Browns appear willing to make a deal. Will the Patriots decide to make the proposed deal and possibly find new talents to bolster their championship roster?
In a recent report from Cleveland.com‘s Mary Kay Cabot, it’s mentioned that the Browns have their ideal scenario in place ahead of the upcoming NFL draft. Basically, Cleveland wants to hold onto their No. 1 draft pick, but trade their No. 12 pick to the Patriots. In exchange, New England would send Garoppolo over to the Browns so they can attempt to turn their team around with a more experienced quarterback.
Cabot talks about what the Patriots might want in exchange for Garopollo being quite different, though.
Despite a report by ESPN that the Patriots won’t trade Jimmy Garoppolo, I’m told that nothing has changed and that teams — including the Browns — will still try to land him.
One source told me he believes it might take as much as a No. 1 this year and No. 1 next year — which I’m sure the Browns won’t be willing to do.
As of right now, Cleveland is planning to select Myles Garrett from Texas A&M with their top draft pick. At an NFL mock draft over at Sports Illustrated, they touted Garrett as top overall pick based on his performance at the NFL Combine.
“Garrett cemented his status as the draft’s best player, emphatically, at the combine. Consider this nugget from NFL research on his testing: Garrett measures taller than Julio Jones, heavier than Rob Gronkowski, quicker (10-yard split) than Devonta Freeman and faster (40-yard dash) than Jarvis Landry. The Browns get a Day 1 impact player to build their defense around. They’ll address the quarterback situation later.”
For the No. 12 pick, the New England Patriots could also draft a number of potential talents. Right now, Sports Illustrated is suggesting the Browns would draft DeShone Kizer from Notre Dame in that spot, which the Patriots could do if they want another potential talented quarterback to groom for the future.
The Pats could also look at a wide receiver such as Mike Williams from the Clemson Tigers, or a defensive player such as Taco Charlton from Michigan or Sidney Jones out of Washington. The Patriots also hold the final pick in the first round of the draft at the No. 32 spot.
The Cleveland Browns already have a total of five draft picks within the first 65 picks of the upcoming NFL Draft, so parting ways with one of them to get a quarterback who is “NFL ready” makes more sense than taking a rookie who has yet to step on the NFL field.
In addition to their perfect plan of drafting Myles Garrett and trading for Jimmy Garoppolo, the Cleveland Browns also want to keep their most talented player right now. That’s wide receiver Terrelle Pryor who can really do it all on the field. However, it’s expected that other teams are vying to acquire Pryor’s services for next season including the Steelers, Giants, 49ers, Titans and Eagles.
Garoppolo, a second-round draft pick in 2014, has spent three seasons with the team as an understudy for Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady. For his career, he’s thrown for 690 yards and five touchdowns. Garoppolo was on the field for five games last season with a total of six yards passing on 1-for-3 completed passes.
However, there’s a case to be made for being a part of one of the league’s most successful franchises in recent history, with one of its best coaches and quarterbacks. Also, longtime Patriots’ fans are quite familiar with how a young Tom Brady ultimately stepped into the starting role after quarterback Drew Bledsoe was hurt. The rest was history and multiple Super Bowl wins.
While Garoppolo is no Tom Brady, he’s certainly been on the practice field and in the vicinity of a guy who knows how to get it done. So now the Patriots will need to determine if they want him to hang around for when Brady decides to officially hang up his jersey and retire.
As for the Browns, in a perfect world Cleveland would get all that they want, but based on last year’s “far from perfect” season, it may be a bit too optimistic to raise fan’s hopes for it all to work out.
NFL fans, should the New England Patriots make the proposed trade and get the No. 12 draft pick from Cleveland for Jimmy Garoppolo? Would it be a wiser move for the team to hold on to Garoppolo for the future?
[Featured Image by Eric Espada/Getty Images]