Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots are reportedly still interested in reacquiring Jimmy Garoppolo from the San Francisco 49ers, and their pursuit may be aided by San Francisco’s blockbuster trade Friday.
The 49ers sent the No. 12 pick, a 2022 third-round pick and first-round picks in 2022 and 2023 to the Miami Dolphins for the No. 3 pick, a selection that is expected to be used on a mystery quarterback.
After the trade, both ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport repeatedly and emphatically reported that 49ers sources indicated they have no plans to trade Garoppolo this year, and instead will use him as a bridge to a rookie.
The 49ers could theoretically find a much cheaper bridge (Alex Smith, anyone?), so there’s a very good chance the team is sending signals to a certain team that resides in Foxborough, Massachusetts, that they need to increase their offer.
Garoppolo was first sent to the 49ers from New England in 2017 for a second-round draft pick, and ESPN’s Dianna Russini reported that even though the Patriots re-signed last year’s starter Cam Newton, a Garoppolo trade is still possible.
“Just recently I was talking to somebody in the league who I really trust. … He said, ‘Do not take the Jimmy Garoppolo trade off the table,'” Russini said during a broadcast of ESPN’s “Get Up” on Thursday. “That is something New England is still sniffing out. Bill doesn’t like to put his cards out on the table, so most think, ‘Oh well if we all know about that, that probably won’t happen.’ But there is definitely a tone in the league that it could still go down.”
Russini did not shed any light on what Garoppolo might cost, though it would be surprising if he commanded more than the second-round pick he went for in 2017. In the time since that trade, two of his three seasons as a starter have been marred by injuries, and he turned in a shaky performance in Super Bowl LIV.
The 49ers would certainly love to recoup one of the future first-round picks they traded away to the Dolphins, but that price seems a bit rich for a quarterback the 49ers are apparently eager to replace.
