Does anyone still think Bill Belichick would have preferred to keep Jimmy Garoppolo?

Remember when people criticized the Patriots for keeping Tom Brady over Jimmy Garoppolo?

Every Patriots fan had to endure the radio personalities and hot take artists shout about how the Patriots needed to get rid of Tom Brady and usher in the Jimmy Garoppolo era.

A lot of fans even got into the hot take game, demanding a change be made at quarterback. That was followed by the Seth Wickersham article about a power struggle between head coach Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft.

It made sense that Belichick would want to move on from Brady. He had made a career on moving on from players one or two seasons before their careers took a downturn. On top of that, Garoppolo had looked excellent in replacement of Brady during the Deflategate suspension. Some people had, and still do, put stock in the idea that there was a split between Brady and Belichick over legacy as well.

Of course, it seemed Kraft and Brady had won the “power struggle.” That tends to happen when you own the team. Garoppolo was sent out to the San Francisco 49ers, while Brady stayed in New England for a while longer.

We know what happened from there. Garoppolo got injured, which he’d shown could be a trend starting in New England, but played well enough to earn a massive contract. Brady would take the Patriots to two more Super Bowls, losing to the Philadelphia Eagles and beating the Los Angeles Rams. The next season, Jimmy G would lead his 49ers to the Super Bowl, where they fell to the Kansas City Chiefs.

After the Super Bowl win over the Rams, Brady and the offense took a step back and many believed Brady’s age was showing. Garoppolo too was criticized for his Super Bowl performance, missing a number of key throws which left the door open for Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.

In the end, credit for making it to the Super Bowl went to the 49ers rushing attack and defense, while Garoppolo had to shoulder the blame for the loss.

Fairly or unfairly, 2020 is the year in which Garoppolo needed to prove his worth in the NFL. So, what has he done? He has dealt with yet another injury, playing in only three games. He’s completed 60.6% of his passes, throwing four touchdowns and two interceptions. Meanwhile, he’s been criticized for struggling to throw the ball downfield. All of this has led to the think pieces pondering if Garoppolo’s time in San Francisco is coming to an end.

It makes you wonder if anyone still believes that Belichick ever thought Garoppolo was better than Brady, who is no longer an elite quarterback, but is still one of the better ones in the NFL. No one would say the same about Garoppolo.

Does anyone really think that Belichick would misevaluate a situation that badly? Does anyone really think hubris would cause Belichick to choose a decidedly worse quarterback to prove a point? Does anyone really believe that Belichick would have preferred to pay Garoppolo money he never even paid Tom Brady? Nope, he’ll just settle for Cam Newton on one of the biggest bargain contracts ever.

Does anyone truly believe that Belichick regrets moving on from Garoppolo?

Of course not. Frankly, they never should have believed it.

The general public has put so much good stock into Belichick’s ability to build a roster that they think everything he’s ever touched is amazing. Look how long it took for teams to admit that there was nothing to Matt Cassel, or for Lions fans to admit hiring Matt Patricia was a mistake? Not everything that moves on from New England is gold, and Belichick knows that.

It’s about time we start recognizing that Belichick knows these players better than we do as casual observers to hardcore obsessives. It’s time we appreciate how rarely Belichick makes mistakes, especially of this magnitude, because once he’s gone there could be a number of costly personnel moves that Patriots fans aren’t used to.

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