New England Patriots: What is the plan for Jimmy Garoppolo?

What could Bill Belichick’s endgame possibly be with the promising young signal caller for the New England Patriots?

This offseason, the New England Patriots were reportedly offered the 12th overall pick and a second rounder for young quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.

Garoppolo is just 25-years-old and was extremely impressive in the six quarters of real, regular season football he got to play last year. He’s shown flashes in the preseason and regular season garbage time, but his comeback win in Arizona and three touchdown pass first half against Miami let everyone know he’s legit.

Thing is, the twelfth pick in this year’s draft got the Browns the 25th pick and a first rounder next year. That means Bill Belichick passed up a chance to turn the 62nd pick in 2014 into two first rounders, which has to leave people wondering what his plan is with the coveted backup.

It might actually be harder to get Jimmy Garoppolo to stay than most people think.

Keeping Garoppolo around would obviously be great for the Patriots, as he’s shown that he has more than what it takes to be the face of an NFL franchise. But therein lies the problem: Garoppolo will be heavily pursued by several QB-needy teams next March. There are a number of teams who are a quality starter under center away from not just making the playoffs, but going on a deep run.

With Tom Brady approaching 40-years-old this season, it would obviously be ideal to have a good, young backup waiting in the wings. But things aren’t that easy for the Patriots. On top of a hefty price tag, it might be difficult to convince Garoppolo to stay given how great Brady has been playing. With New England’s coaching staff and entire fan base beyond confident that the greatest quarterback of all-time has at least three years of really good football left, Garoppolo should be set on leaving for a team that can offer him his first starting job since he was at Eastern Illinois.

As great as it would be for any young quarterback’s career to stay in Foxboro with that winning culture and great system, one would expect that Garoppolo wants to start before he approaches his thirties. If he’s willing to sit and wait until his prime years just to start, New England’s situation at quarterback will be enviable for what looks like another decade. If he wants to start and start now, the Patriots will likely lose him next year, and Bill Belichick could end up looking very foolish, which nobody is used to.

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Is it not too late to rule out a trade?

If Belichick tries to deal Garoppolo at the next deadline, there’s no way he can get for him what he would’ve gotten this offseason. No team will sell the farm for what could end up being just two months of Garoppolo at quarterback before they have to cough up twenty million a year.

Right now, it seems like the Patriots may have to choose between Brady and Garoppolo sometime in the next year. That’s not an ideal situation, but there are worse problems an NFL team could have. Regardless, the best option is likely to trade Garoppolo and collect on the king’s ransom that comes when you trade a promising young quarterback. If they don’t do it now, they’ll look silly trying to do it later.