Robert Kraft Stepped In
Robert Kraft stepped in and traded Jimmy Garoppolo this season. Going into 2018 Garoppolo is now 7-0 as a starter in the NFL. In the five games with the 49ers Garoppolo passed for 1,560 yards with seven touchdowns. Garoppolo has proven that he is a legit NFL quarterback in the NFL. Meanwhile in New England the Patriots have 40-year-old Tom Brady, who really has not been playing well. He threw an interception against the Steelers for the first time since 2005. It’s clear Bob Kraft wanted to move on from Garoppolo and keep Brady who is bigger than the team. Brady is the franchise and so is Belichick, but did Kraft hurt the future of the franchise?
A Look into the Future
Let’s fast forward five years from now. Will Garoppolo be a Patriot again? Or will the 49ers still have a stud franchise quarterback? Will the Patriots be back at 6-10? Or will the Patriots draft a good quarterback and groom him to be the next guy? There are so many questions. Whether or not Belichick now has to draft a quarterback despite having a perfect heir in Garoppolo.
Garoppolo Is a Legit NFL Quarterback
The audio of Garoppolo calmly leading his team to a comeback win a few weeks ago was scary good. He sounded like Brady, as he took what he learned in Foxborough and took it with him to the 49ers. John Lynch wrote on the team’s website:
“We want Jimmy to be a Niner for a long time. That process is going to take place here. We’re eager to get that done, to have the opportunity. But, I think one thing that we really believe is that those things should take place between us and his representatives and not occur and transpire in the public. That’s the way we’re going to treat that. You have our assurances, and the fans do, that we’d like nothing more than to make him a Niner for a long, long time.”
We’ll see what happens, but it’s clear Belichick wanted to keep Garoppolo. However nobody was going to let him trade away the greatest quarterback of all time.