Jimmy Garoppolo; What’s the Price?

The New England Patriots’ young backup Jimmy Garoppolo is probably the hottest trade piece in the NFL right now, unless you consider Tony Romo a hotter piece. Garappolo showed a great amount of skill in almost 3/4 of the opening games, while Tom Brady was suspended, for the Pats before he was injured. 

Garoppolo has a lot of potential to be a franchise quarterback. The Patriots are rumored to be fishing to trade him to maybe strengthen their team in a faster way to pursue a sixth ring for Brady, and there are teams that need a quarterback.  Most of the suitors are bottom tier teams with prime draft picks, and the question is, what’s a reasonable price for Jimmy?

Rumors have flown around about many different trade possibilities involving Garoppolo and some solid draft picks. The Bears have been linked to trade rumors with the third pick in the draft, though that’s unlikely to happen, and a more likely deal of their second round pick. 

The 49ers have also been linked to talks also with the more likely deal being their second rounder. Cleveland, this is where it gets interesting, has two first-round picks. One is the first overall pick, and the other is the 12th. This makes the 12th pick very tradable if the Browns decide Garoppolo is worth it.

But the question is this, is Garoppolo worth a first round pick, let alone the 12th? You have to consider the team, on a franchise like the Browns, Garoppolo would be surrounded by a much worse supporting cast. 

People use a system quarterback argument against Tom Brady all the time, but is Garoppolo a “system quarterback” too? These considerations can possibly damage his value in the eyes of GMs.

On the other hand, Garoppolo looked great in the seven quarters he played this season, better than what any of these suitors have at the moment. He has so much potential, and what he can do is almost endless. He could very well be the answer to the problems of some rebuilding teams. These considerations can raise his value in the eyes of GMs.

In my opinion, a second rounder is a very reasonable price for Garoppolo, almost a steal. A mid or late first rounder would be reasonable if any team there needed him. The 12th overall pick may be overpaying a bit, but in Clevelands case, they can afford it.