Cleveland Browns reporters are clinging to Jimmy Garoppolo trade speculation for dear life despite Adam Schefter’s adamance that the New England Patriots won’t move their backup quarterback.
Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot and ESPN’s Tony Grossi both wrote about Garoppolo on Monday, as noted by ProFootballTalk. Why? Because the NFL Annual Meeting takes place this week, so Patriots and Browns brass both will be in Arizona. Bill Belichick won’t be there for long, since he has scouting obligations Tuesday, but since he will be in the same area code as Browns boss Sashi Brown, the two sides could potentially talk about Jimmy G.
Cabot reported the Browns “might have preliminary discussions” about trading for Garoppolo. So, we’re now so far down the Garoppolo trade rabbit hole that we’re discussing things that reportedly might happen in a preliminary fashion.
Sure, the Patriots and Browns might discuss Garoppolo. They might also discuss Eric Zeier or Todd Philcox. But what is the real reason Cleveland reporters are writing about Garoppolo? Because he pushes the needle. He provides a glimmer of hope to a team that currently has Cody Kessler atop its quarterback depth chart with Brock Osweiler and Kevin Hogan beneath him. Garoppolo is the closest thing to a potential franchise quarterback who might possibly be available as long as you ignore Schefter’s reporting for ESPN and pay attention to Grossi’s instead.
Garoppolo drives traffic, and at this point in the NFL offseason, there really isn’t much going on for the majority of teams. The peak of free agency has passed, and the 2017 NFL Draft still is a month away. So here we are, giving you Garoppolo updates when there truly are none.
Schefter seems pretty convinced Garoppolo won’t be traded, and he’s putting his reputation on the line to double, triple and quadruple down on this. Like the Cleveland media, we’ll probably keep giving you updates just to tell you there’s no update, but don’t count on Garoppolo fetching the Patriots the first- and second-round picks they traded away by acquiring Brandin Cooks and Kony Ealy.
And if it does happen? Don’t be shocked to hear about it from Schefter. Because a good way to dig himself out of saying Garoppolo won’t be traded would be to break the story himself.
Thumbnail photo via Reinhold Matay/USA TODAY Sports Images
