NFL Rumors: Did Patriots Offer Jimmy Garoppolo New Contract Before Trade?

Jimmy Garoppolo was believed to be Tom Brady’s heir apparent, but instead the young quarterback now is making a name for himself in the Bay Area.

The New England Patriots cut ties with Garoppolo on Oct. 30 when they traded the 26-year-old to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for a 2018 second-round pick. The Patriots invested a second-round pick on Garoppolo in the 2014 NFL Draft, and most believed him to be Brady’s successor.

The Patriots ultimately were forced to make a tough decision. Garoppolo’s contract expires at season’s end, and New England decided to shop him instead of losing him for nothing in free agency. But according to ESPN’s Seth Wickersham, the Patriots made an effort to keep Garoppolo in town longterm.

“The Patriots repeatedly offered Garoppolo four-year contract extensions, in the $17 million to $18 million range annually that would go higher if and when he succeeded Brady,” Wickersham writes. “Garoppolo and (Don Yee, the agent for Garoppolo and Tom Brady) rejected the offers out of hand, for reasons that remain unclear.”

It would have made sense for New England to want to extend Garoppolo, as he’s shown great promise and is poised to be a successful starting quarterback for quite some time. However with Tom Brady still playing at a high level, it remained unclear when Jimmy G would get his shot under center with the Patriots. With this in mind, Wickersham’s report of a contract offer might not be entirely true.

“The Patriots never extended a new contract offer to Garoppolo,” NBC Sports Boston’s Tom E. Curran writes. “No question they discussed it and spitballed about what it would look like — great pay as a backup escalating to starter money when Brady left — but the offer was never formalized. Why? Because it was clear Garoppolo wasn’t staying another year as a backup.”

The conflicting reports regarding Garoppolo’s contract situation with the Patriots don’t come as much of a surprise, as Wickersham’s piece has prompted countless responses from around the football world. But given the franchise’s tight-lipped nature, it’s unclear if we’ll ever discover the complete truth surrounding any controversy within the organization.