https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/11/01/jimmy-garoppolo-trade-49ers-patriots-deadline-mmqb
Jimmy Garoppolo Trade: Questions and Answers on Most Shocking Deal of NFL Season
By Peter King
On Monday night at around 9 in Massachusetts, Jimmy Garoppolo took a call on his cell from a California area code. The news of his trade from New England to San Francisco broke earlier in the evening. On the phone was 49ers GM John Lynch, who welcomed him to the team. Lynch wasn’t sure exactly how Garoppolo would react, moving from a two-time Super Bowl winner in his four NFL seasons in New England to the 0-8 Niners. Garoppolo took it okay. Better than okay, actually.
“You have no idea how excited I am,” Garoppolo told Lynch. “When can I come out?”
In just a few hours, in fact. The Niners sent a plane to fetch him Tuesday morning, and he was meeting the press and his new organization late Tuesday afternoon, beaming in his red 49ers polo.
Lynch recalled the opening conversation Tuesday night over the phone from the Niners’ Santa Clara offices. He didn’t have much time to reflect on the shock of the previous 24 hours; he was busy restocking an injury-ravaged roster. But make no mistake about it:
The Niners were shocked this happened. New England coach Bill Belichick hinted broadly Tuesday that the Patriots traded Garoppolo because they weren’t able to sign him to a contract beyond this, the final year of his four-year rookie deal. That still leaves questions and answers regarding the most stunning trade of the season:
Why the Niners and not the Browns, the team many around the league felt would give more for Garoppolo? This deal apparently came together very fast, and without any leaks over the weekend or through the day Monday. Cleveland coach Hue Jackson loves Garoppolo. It’s uncertain if there was any contact between New England and Cleveland Monday before New England made the trade with San Francisco. The Browns were led to believe in the off-season that the Patriots would not deal Garoppolo under any circumstances.
Could Belichick have been doing Garoppolo a solid in not sending him to this quicksand franchise, a team where dreams go to die, a team with a 1-23 record in the last 14 months? Does Belichick still have hard feelings deep down against that franchise that fired him in 1995?
Could Belichick have been thinking ahead, not wanting to send Garoppolo to Cleveland, then watch Garoppolo mentor Josh McDaniels get the Browns head-coaching job in the next year or two and possibly eventually become a formidable rival? (That last one’s far-fetched.) Whatever the reason, the Niners were the beneficiaries of the offer. Lynch said it took him and coach Kyle Shanahan about 10 minutes to decide to pull the trigger.
Why did the Niners do this now instead of waiting for the off-season to try to pry Shanahan favorite Kirk Cousins from Washington? “This was the proverbial bird in the hand,’’ said Lynch, who wouldn’t refer to any other options specifically.
The Niners had no idea what Washington would do with Cousins because no one knows what Washington will do with Cousins, due to be a free-agent for the third straight offseason in 2018. Plus, Shanahan likes Garoppolo a lot too. He has an excellent release of the ball, and he’s accurate downfield, and he’s tough. In a growing offense, those attributes are vital.
When will he play? Garoppolo was meeting separately Tuesday night with quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello and then Shanahan to take a crash-course in the Niner playbook. Complicating his transition will be the difference in verbiage; in many cases, traded players could go from old team to new and recognize some play calls. Not here.
San Francisco’s offensive line is missing both tackles and is totally beat up, which doesn’t help. The 49rs play Arizona and the Giants, then have their bye, and then play Seattle. Smart money is on Garoppolo having three weeks in this lost 49er season to learn, and then he’d play Seattle after the bye.
Why’d the Patriots go counter to their organizational philosophy at quarterback? I simply can’t understand why New England coach Bill Belichick did this now, trading a highly trusted backup and leaving the team with no credible backup plan when the only other quarterback on the roster is 40. Tom Brady’s an incredibly healthy and fit 40, but he’s 40. Belichick dealt Garoppolo for a high second-round pick.
If the Pats kept him for the next three months as Brady insurance, they’d have gotten a third-round compensatory draft pick in 2019.
That is worth denuding you depth at quarterback behind Brady? Granted, Brady’s incredibly durable, and not likely to be hurt. But if he does go down, New England’s season is done. With Garoppolo, they’d still be afloat. Odd decision, too, considering this Belichick quote ESPN Boston’s Mike Reiss unearthed Tuesday, from May 2014, just after New England draft Garoppolo late in the second round.
"I think organizationally … I don't think we would put together a team the way Indianapolis did it when they lost [Peyton] Manning and they go 0-16, 1-15 or whatever it was [actually 2-14],’’ Belichick said. “I don't think that's really what we're looking for ... We want to be competitive even if something happens to a player at any position. I think depth is always important. You never know when you're going to need it. I don't think we'd be happy going 1-15 if we had an injury at one position. But other people have different philosophies.” This move is a total about-face to that philosophy.
Lynch was philosophical about this nightmare season. “I think we got better today,” he said. “One of my first conversations with Kyle before taking the job was about the quarterback. We both agreed you have to be great at the quarterback position. This gives us added confidence in our plan going forward. Tonight I’ll lay my head down and go to sleep, and we’ll still be 0-8 when I wake up. I know we’ve still got so much work to do. But this is a big piece.”
Earlier, Garoppolo was finishing his media duties at the stadium—which is adjacent to the Niners’ office and practice facility—and asked the team’s VP of communications, Bob Lange, “Is there somewhere I can go so I can see the field?” Lange took him to a good vantage point, and Garoppolo stared out at the field for a full 20 seconds or so. This was his field now, and, barring an upset, the Niners would be his team.
Finally, after sitting behind an all-time great, Garoppolo knows this is his time. He took time to soak it in. He’s a mature kid. He knows this team is miles away from being good. But he’s been an heir for four seasons. Now he’ll get to be the man … and oddly, he’ll be the man on the team Tom Brady worshiped as a kid. Heck of a story.
