INDIANAPOLIS — Bill Belichick seemingly picked Jimmy Garoppolo’s destination when the New England Patriots head coach elected to trade his former backup quarterback to the San Francisco 49ers.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, who helped pull off the trade to get Garoppolo, doesn’t exactly see it that way, but he does have his own theory on why Belichick was willing to let Garoppolo go.
“I don’t know if he chose his destination, but he gave us a chance to get him,” Shanahan said Thursday at the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine. “We strongly appreciated that. You’d have to ask him that. We just talk and that was a heck of an opportunity for us. We didn’t want to pass at that.”
Shanahan believes the Patriots simply got “realistic.”
“Jimmy was one of those guys going into the last year of his contract that I think everybody knew there was a trade possibility, especially with the starting quarterback they have there,” Shanahan said. “We looked into that just like every other situation. They weren’t interested at all early on at this time last year. I don’t think they were later.
“I think they had became a lot more realistic right before the trade deadline. I think that pushes a lot of teams to make certain decisions, and I think they tried to hold onto it as long as possible. A few days before the trade deadline it came up, and I think they had to make a move to help their team and their future. Fortunately, it helped us also.”
“Realistic” might mean the Patriots realized they weren’t going to be able to sign Garoppolo to a long-term contract while Tom Brady still was the team’s starting quarterback.
The Patriots sent Garoppolo to the 49ers for a second-round draft pick before the 2017 trade deadline.
