Patriots Rumors: Cleveland Browns Inquired About Jimmy Garoppolo During NFL Draft

Recent New England Patriots rumors are that the Cleveland Browns inquired about quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo during the NFL Draft.

During the NFL Draft, there were some New England Patriots rumors about whether or not Jimmy Garoppolo would be traded.

After winning Super Bowl 51, quarterback Tom Brady is still playing at an extremely high level. He was able to set the NFL record for touchdown to interception ratio for a single season in 2016, and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. With Brady still playing at a high level, some believed the Patriots might move Garoppolo.

Entering the final year of his contract, Garoppolo would have likely brought back a good haul for the Patriots. With teams reaching throughout the first round for quarterbacks, Garoppolo would have been a good option for many of them.

However, according to Adam Schefter, the Patriots stayed the course and decided not to trade Garoppolo, despite interest from the Browns.

After seeing playoff teams like the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs move up to select quarterbacks in the NFL Draft, the value of Garoppolo was on full display last night. Both the Texans and the Browns paid steep prices for their quarterbacks, and neither Patrick Mahomes or Deshaun Watson are can’t miss prospects.

Even though Garoppolo didn’t play a ton in New England, he was very impressive in his two starts last season. Even though Garoppolo is set to be a free agent at the end of next season, the Patriots are clearly holding onto him for as long as they can.

With Brady getting up there in age, having Garoppolo as a backup is a great insurance. Seeing how hard and expensive it is to get a quarterback in the draft nowadays, holding on to Garoppolo, for now, is the smart move for the Patriots.

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Even though they would have likely received an awful lot for Garoppolo, the Patriots never appeared to have any real interest in dealing him this offseason.