I don’t think we’re going to have a better story this year! The San Francisco 49ers inquired about acquiring Jimmy Garoppolo this past offseason, and were shut down. General manager John Lynch said negotiations never got started after they inquired. However, Lynch has not told us the whole story.
Jay Glazer is reporting that after being told Garoppolo was not available, Lynch asked Bill Belichick if Tom Brady was available. Yep, he apparently straight up asked Belichick if the Patriots would be willing to trade their Hall of Fame quarterback.
I’ll file this under, “You never know if you don’t ask.” It’s certainly bold, but in thinking about it, I suppose, what harm is there in asking? At the very least maybe you make Bill Belichick laugh.
But in all seriousness, if the Patriots were so intent on keeping Garoppolo, that would seem to suggest they looked at him as their guy of the future. Given that he was not signed beyond 2017, maybe they would in fact be open to trading their franchise quarterback.
The Internet would have melted down if the 49ers had acquired Brady in a trade. It obviously was never going to happen, but it’s safe to say that would have been one of the most stunning moves in NFL history. There have been rumblings Belichick might want to move on and have his backup plan in place, but I don’t think anybody would have predicted a trade this past offseason.
At least we know John Lynch is a big believer in, “you miss all the shots you don’t take.”