Jimmy Garoppolo flashed the talent
of an NFL starter for the first two games of the 2016 season.
Under center with Tom Brady serving
his suspension from the witch hunt of Deflategate, Garoppolo led the New
England Patriots to a 23-21 road victory over the Arizona Cardinals on 'Sunday
Night Football.' Garoppolo completed 24 of 33 passes for one touchdown with a
106.1 passer rating. He followed that up with a 18-for-26 passing performance for 232 yards and three TDs versus the Miami Dolphins in a 31-24 win.
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| Garoppolo led the Patriots, an underdog on the road at Arizona, to a victory on primetime. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images) |
A right shoulder injury forced
Garoppolo out of the game against Miami, which thrust rookie quarterback Jacoby
Brissett into action to close out the contest. Brissett then started the next
two games at Gillette Stadium, defeating the Houston Texans on 'Thursday Night
Football' and then losing to the Buffalo Bills.
Despite failing to last through two
games, Garoppolo impressed scouts and coaches across the league. He remains a
hot commodity for QB-needy teams at the onset of the 2017 offseason.
Garoppolo looked the part of a
successful starting QB in his two weeks of play. But is it really worth it for
a team to fork over a first-round pick for a guy who has thrown 94 career
passes?
As if his inability to stay healthy wasn’t
enough to give teams pause, we have already seen another
Patriots backup, Matt Cassel, thrive on a short-term basis in New England, only to fall flat
on his face with the Kansas City Chiefs.
After witnessing Cassel win 10 of 15
starts with New England in the 2008 season, Kansas City coughed up the No. 34 pick
in the 2009 draft to acquire him (and linebacker Mike Vrabel). They also rewarded Cassel's performance in ’08 with
a six-year, $62.7 million contract that included $28 million in guaranteed
money. Aside from his 2010 Pro Bowl campaign, Cassel was a major bust for
Kansas City. He was released in 2013 just four years into the contract and
failed to ever become a long-term starter again, going 7-11 in spot starts for
the Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills over the past four
seasons.
Another concern for teams pondering
a deal for Garoppolo—a free agent after 2017 who will be looking to sign a
lucrative extension with whichever team trades for him—is we just saw Brock
Osweiler fail colossally after being handed a 4-year, $72 million contract. This came a year after
showing signs of a franchise quarterback while briefly taking over for Peyton
Manning with the Denver Broncos in 2015.
It’s unfair to compare the woeful Osweiler, who threw 15 touchdowns against 16 interceptions with a dreadful 72.2 passer rating, to Garoppolo. But keep in mind Osweiler was highly sought after during the 2016
offseason. The Broncos offered him a 4-year, $68 million deal, which he unwisely declined. Garoppolo certainly has cleaner mechanics than
Osweiler, but the fact remains Garoppolo only flashed greatness for a brief
period in New England—similar to how Osweiler did in Denver (albeit Osweiler
showcased far less with the Broncos).
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| Brock Osweiler did not live up to expectations in his first season with the Texans. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle) |
Though unlikely, teams should fear
Garoppolo is Osweiler 2.0. Garoppolo briefly succeeding in the Patriots' well-established offensive system is hardly a guarantee he will thrive elsewhere.
The true value of Garoppolo, a
potential one-year rental, should be a mid-round pick. Yet, there are rumors the Cleveland Browns may ship the 11th pick in the upcoming
draft and a second-rounder for a QB who showed merely glimpses of brilliance.
The Chicago Bears, too, have been
rumored in trade talks with New England with talks centered on the Bears’
first-round pick. Chicago desperately wants to move on from the embattled Jay
Cutler. Would the Bears really give away the No. 3 pick in the draft to land
Garoppolo, an unproven commodity?
In recent years, teams have
gravitated towards backups who had short stints of success and then signed these QBs to a long-term deal or traded for them in a blockbuster move. Kevin Kolb and
Matt Flynn (in addition to Cassel and Osweiler) are proof of the risk of
handing franchise money to a quarterback who lacks a large sample size of
success.
Maybe Garoppolo is different and
becomes the elite quarterback that the Browns, Bears and other QB-hungry teams
desire. It still sounds dicey to give the franchise reigns to Garoppolo after
seeing other backups fail to pan out.
New England would love if a team
pulls the trigger on a trade that nets it a first-round draft selection as
Brady continues to defy age and remain the best quarterback in football. But buyer
beware, surrendering a top-draft pick—and potentially mortgaging the future—for
Garoppolo could set the franchise back for years to come.
