Rob Ninkovich predicts unexpected Patriots QB for 2021
By Adam Weinrib
Rob Ninkovich believes Jimmy Garoppolo will walk back to the Patriots in 2021, giving San Francisco a “Get Out of Contract Free” Card.
We’ve flipped in a matter of weeks from declaring without hesitation that Cam Newton had earned security with the Patriots beyond 2020 to realizing that there was more work to be done in solidifying the position long-term.
This is the first time in two decades where Bill Belichick has taken a big swing in filling a major position without a succession plan. After all, Newton fell into their laps late in free agency, and likely would not have been the choice — even in the short-term — if a miraculously random chance to grab a former MVP hadn’t arrived unexpectedly.
Belichick had his QB of the future in place behind Tom Brady for a few years, though, didn’t he? It always seemed as if Jimmy Garoppolo would seamlessly slide into a leading role in New England, before a power struggle no one expected boiled over and forced his exile to San Francisco.
As a Niner, Garoppolo’s been a solid, if unspectacular, game manager, whose deficient deep balls may have cost the team a Super Bowl win in a bummer of a fourth quarter this past February. So count Rob Ninkovich among the many who believes that Bill Belichick will come calling this offseason and give the Niners a chance to get out from under Jimmy G’s massive contract.
https://twitter.com/GetUpESPN/status/1324743847839256578?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1324743847839256578%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthespun.com%2Fnfl%2Fafc-east%2Fnew-england-patriots%2Fnew-england-patriots-rob-ninkovich
As Ninkovich stated on ESPN’s “Get Up” regarding Garoppolo’s next move:
"“I think he’ll be a New England Patriot. When is the last time you’ve seen Bill Belichick walk up to the opposing team’s quarterback after they lost 33-6 and tap him on the back to shake his hand? I could see Jimmy G going to the Patriots and Matt Ryan to the 49ers. They [Matt Ryan and Kyle Shanahan] have some unfinished business there.”"
Ryan’s basically spinning his wheels in Atlanta with a franchise that the Patriots irreparably broke in the Super Bowl, so it would make all the sense in the world for him to depart.
It’s also starting to make more and more sense that salary cap relief for the 49ers would be more important to them than further developing Garoppolo, who most likely has more friends in that Pats locker room.
Ninkovich connected the dots here, but guess what? So have plenty of other folks.
https://twitter.com/FoxSportsRadio/status/1322274988179689472?s=20
Doug Gottlieb did it. ESPN’s Bill Barnwell noted it. More and more, the tea leaves start to suggest a reunion that probably shouldn’t even be necessary.
After all, Garoppolo never should’ve left.
