Patriots Rumors: Cleveland Browns to Make Another Push for Jimmy Garoppolo

Recent New England Patriots rumors have still been about Jimmy Garoppolo and the Cleveland Browns. Will the Browns make a final push?

With NFL Free Agency winding down, there have still been plenty of New England Patriots rumors. The Patriots currently hold two trade pieces that teams desire in cornerback Malcolm Butler and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.

While Butler has been linked to the Saints for much of the offseason, the same can be said about Garoppolo and the Browns. For many years, the Browns have struggled at the quarterback position. They have tried to draft and sign quarterbacks, but nothing has worked out.

In the NFL Draft last season, the Browns traded out of the No.2 pick, which ended up being Carson Wentz. In his rookie season, Wentz played very well for the Eagles. He surely would have been an upgrade over anything the Browns have.

Now, the Browns are still searching for a quarterback. With plenty of draft picks, including two in the first round this year, they might be prepared to try and find themselves a franchise player. Due to the quarterbacks in the draft not being considered can’t miss prospects, the Browns still might try to acquire Garoppolo.

In two starts last season, Garoppolo was impressive for the Patriots. It appears that he has all the tools to be a starting quarterback in the NFL, and he could be appealing to the Browns. Even though the Patriots haven’t been actively shopping Garoppolo, Tony Grossi of ESPN.com believes that the Browns will make a final push at the league meetings for Garoppolo.

"An NFL source familiar with all the principals involved speculated the Browns “would make another run” at Garoppolo at the league meetings. There, Patriots owner Robert Kraft and coach Bill Belichick could interact in person — rather than via telephone — with Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and chief deal-maker Sashi Brown, the club’s executive vice president of football operations."

Trading Garoppolo to the Browns would certainly be beneficial to the Patriots. As of now, the Patriots don’t have a pick in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft, which is a strange thing for them.

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If they decided to trade Garoppolo, they would almost certainly be able to get back into the first round this year, and possibly acquire even more draft picks in the later rounds. The league meetings starts on Saturday, and we will have to see if a face-to-face meeting in Phoenix results in some news on Garoppolo.