Trading for Garoppolo is a Big Mistake

It seems as though every year in the NFL, there’s a young backup quarterback who’s rumored to be at the top of many QB needy teams’ list.

Whether it’s Matt Schaub in 2007, Matt Cassel or Matt Flynn in 2012 (coincidentally, ‘Matt’ is a very popular backup QB name), history has shown there’s a market for players who have taken their brief opportunities and shown flashes.

This off-season it appears that that quarterback is the New England Patriots own Jimmy Garoppolo.

Drafted in the second round of the 2014 draft, Garoppolo was selected to be the heir apparent to one Tom Brady. Now, with Brady still looking as fresh as ever, Belichick and the Patriots may trade away their future plans to keep rolling in the present.

For New England, it would be the ultimate swindle and for the poor team that trades for Jimmy G, it’ll be a colossal mistake.

Trading for a backup quarterback to become your franchise quarterback is obviously a gamble. It’s a gamble that said QB’s, normally, minuscule sample-size is a sign of things to come and that the buzz surrounding him isn’t just a flash-in-the-pan but a real reputation that can be built on.

Each case of these trades is different, as well. Cassel had a whole season to garner the deserved attention while Flynn’s was a few Week 17 relief appearances where he utterly dismantled the opposition. Garoppolo’s is different yet, because he has the brief experience with only moderate success.

With Brady suspended for the first four weeks of the 2016 season, the torched was momentarily passed to three-year pro. And he responded admirably.

In Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals, Garoppolo was efficient and effective in commanding the offense throwing for 264 yards and a score with a 72.7% completion percentage. Week 2 against the Miami Dolphins was even better as the young quarterback was on pace for a monster outing before being sidelined with a shoulder injury in the second quarter while already throwing three touchdowns and 232 yards.

The shoulder injury forced Garoppolo to miss the next two starting opportunities with Brady out and he finished his five-and-a-half quarters of play with 496 yards, four scores, no picks and a 71.2% completion percentage.

These performances were certainly notable and could have led to an even larger legend. But the fact remains, it was only one-and-a-half games of starting experience. That is not nearly enough to warrant such a franchise changing trade that Garoppolo would command.

Had he played well in all four games, you could concoct a legitimate argument for trading something as valuable as a first round pick — as some are suggesting. But that little starting experience and the few relief stretches he’s seen in three years with the team is not worthy of a pick that high.

Trading for Garoppolo to be a stop-gap QB while you continue to search for the franchise leader makes plenty of sense, albeit with the right compensation being given up in return.

A third or fourth round pick should, frankly, be more than enough to secure the services of the Patriots’ backup quarterback. He hasn’t shown nearly enough to give up a first or even second round pick, as some are suggesting it might take.

The New England prestige is also a major factor in this, as well. There have plenty of quarterbacks like Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett and even Cassel who have benefited from being a former Patriot. There’s something about the way Belichick and Brady have worked that makes others believe every quarterback coming out of Foxboro is the next best thing.

So far, that remains to be seen. And who knows, maybe Garoppolo is the first to stake that claim. But for what little of a sample he has shown, trading anything of great value for him isn’t a move any team should be making.