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HOUSTON – One of the most interesting players of the upcoming NFL offseason will run the New England Patriots’ scout team this week. He’ll do his best Matt Ryan impression. The Patriots will hope he never plays a snap in Super Bowl LI.
And when that’s over, the life of Patriots backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo might change in a big way.
Garoppolo could end up getting traded and get a contract bigger than all of his celebrated teammates who entertained the media at podiums not far away. But on Monday, Garoppolo settled for a small media crowd asking him dumb questions about how good looking he is and what’s his favorite kind of pie.
Garoppolo is going to be an intriguing story this offseason, no matter what happens. He could be traded for a valuable draft pick or two, to a team desperate to fix its quarterback situation. At that point he’s probably going to sign an enormous long-term contract. Or the Patriots will decide to hang onto him as he enters the final year of his contract. That would lead to a whole other set of possibilities, especially considering Tom Brady will be 40 next season.
[Ditch the paper and pen – play Squares Pick’em for the Big Game!]
Garoppolo will have a much higher profile very soon, if not this offseason then in 2018. He could go from making about $820,000 next season to a salary 15-20 times that. But he isn’t allowing himself to worry about it.
“I’m really trying not to,” Garoppolo said. “Right now it’s just focusing on the Super Bowl.”
The Patriots’ star players are always beyond careful in a media setting like Monday night’s Super Bowl Opening Night. Did you think the backup quarterback was going to stir things up?
Garoppolo will get his time in the sun soon enough. His situation was similar to Brock Osweiler a year ago. Osweiler was the Denver Broncos’ backup quarterback at Super Bowl 50. Osweiler had played a little bit like Garoppolo did this season, and everyone knew he was going to cash in big. Both players were second-round picks stuck behind legendary starters. The biggest difference is Osweiler was set to be a free agent last year, and Garoppolo won’t control what will happen this offseason.
Osweiler signed a four-year, $72 million deal, and Garoppolo could get a similar deal soon enough. That’s what quarterbacks go for (even with very little experience, as we found out with Osweiler) and Garoppolo has played better than Osweiler did with Denver. For what it’s worth, the largest total contract on the Patriots roster is Rob Gronkowski’s $54 million deal. Brady makes $41 million over two years.
“I haven’t even thought about it man, to be honest. Sorry,” Garoppolo said when asked about the possibility of an Osweiler-type deal.
That’s hard to believe, but it’s obvious why Garoppolo wouldn’t start talking about it this week.
It’s also easy to see why Garoppolo is soon headed toward a big payday and a starting role somewhere. He was a second-round pick, so he was highly thought of coming out of college. He hasn’t played a lot, but he has completed 67 percent of his 94 career passes with five touchdowns and no interceptions. When Tom Brady was suspended to start the season, Garoppolo started twice and played well before suffering a shoulder injury.
“I just looked at it as a good opportunity,” Garoppolo said. “It worked out pretty well.”
Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said he has seen Garoppolo learn from Brady and he was ready for his opportunity at the beginning of this season. He thought Garoppolo played well, and that will help him going forward.
“Any young player that’s playing for his first or second time and has some success, I think that helps you,” McDaniels said. “You can put all the work into it, but confidence comes from performance.
“I think Jimmy went out there and did his thing. He did what he’s always done in practice. Competed hard and tried to do his job and made the plays we needed him to make.”
There are still big questions that need to be answered. Will the Patriots decide to trade Garoppolo, or see what happens with Brady next season? And if they deal him, will any team pay what the Patriots want? It was reported about a month ago that the Patriots will want a first- and fourth-round pick in a trade.
This last question will be a challenge to answer. Osweiler was a big risk because he had such little experience, but at least he had seven starts and 305 career passes with Denver. Garoppolo has two starts and 94 passes. But it’s hard to find a quarterback in the NFL if you don’t have one. We’ll see what kind of market develops for Garoppolo after the Super Bowl.
But there’s no reason for Garoppolo to worry about it before then.
“Not right now. It’s all Atlanta Falcons right now,” Garoppolo said. “All of it is just talk and rumors right now. It is what it is.”
Jimmy Garoppolo could be traded by the Patriots this offseason. (AP)
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And when that’s over, the life of Patriots backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo might change in a big way.
Garoppolo could end up getting traded and get a contract bigger than all of his celebrated teammates who entertained the media at podiums not far away. But on Monday, Garoppolo settled for a small media crowd asking him dumb questions about how good looking he is and what’s his favorite kind of pie.
Garoppolo is going to be an intriguing story this offseason, no matter what happens. He could be traded for a valuable draft pick or two, to a team desperate to fix its quarterback situation. At that point he’s probably going to sign an enormous long-term contract. Or the Patriots will decide to hang onto him as he enters the final year of his contract. That would lead to a whole other set of possibilities, especially considering Tom Brady will be 40 next season.
[Ditch the paper and pen – play Squares Pick’em for the Big Game!]
Garoppolo will have a much higher profile very soon, if not this offseason then in 2018. He could go from making about $820,000 next season to a salary 15-20 times that. But he isn’t allowing himself to worry about it.
“I’m really trying not to,” Garoppolo said. “Right now it’s just focusing on the Super Bowl.”
The Patriots’ star players are always beyond careful in a media setting like Monday night’s Super Bowl Opening Night. Did you think the backup quarterback was going to stir things up?
Garoppolo will get his time in the sun soon enough. His situation was similar to Brock Osweiler a year ago. Osweiler was the Denver Broncos’ backup quarterback at Super Bowl 50. Osweiler had played a little bit like Garoppolo did this season, and everyone knew he was going to cash in big. Both players were second-round picks stuck behind legendary starters. The biggest difference is Osweiler was set to be a free agent last year, and Garoppolo won’t control what will happen this offseason.
Osweiler signed a four-year, $72 million deal, and Garoppolo could get a similar deal soon enough. That’s what quarterbacks go for (even with very little experience, as we found out with Osweiler) and Garoppolo has played better than Osweiler did with Denver. For what it’s worth, the largest total contract on the Patriots roster is Rob Gronkowski’s $54 million deal. Brady makes $41 million over two years.
“I haven’t even thought about it man, to be honest. Sorry,” Garoppolo said when asked about the possibility of an Osweiler-type deal.
That’s hard to believe, but it’s obvious why Garoppolo wouldn’t start talking about it this week.
It’s also easy to see why Garoppolo is soon headed toward a big payday and a starting role somewhere. He was a second-round pick, so he was highly thought of coming out of college. He hasn’t played a lot, but he has completed 67 percent of his 94 career passes with five touchdowns and no interceptions. When Tom Brady was suspended to start the season, Garoppolo started twice and played well before suffering a shoulder injury.
“I just looked at it as a good opportunity,” Garoppolo said. “It worked out pretty well.”
Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said he has seen Garoppolo learn from Brady and he was ready for his opportunity at the beginning of this season. He thought Garoppolo played well, and that will help him going forward.
“Any young player that’s playing for his first or second time and has some success, I think that helps you,” McDaniels said. “You can put all the work into it, but confidence comes from performance.
“I think Jimmy went out there and did his thing. He did what he’s always done in practice. Competed hard and tried to do his job and made the plays we needed him to make.”
There are still big questions that need to be answered. Will the Patriots decide to trade Garoppolo, or see what happens with Brady next season? And if they deal him, will any team pay what the Patriots want? It was reported about a month ago that the Patriots will want a first- and fourth-round pick in a trade.
This last question will be a challenge to answer. Osweiler was a big risk because he had such little experience, but at least he had seven starts and 305 career passes with Denver. Garoppolo has two starts and 94 passes. But it’s hard to find a quarterback in the NFL if you don’t have one. We’ll see what kind of market develops for Garoppolo after the Super Bowl.
But there’s no reason for Garoppolo to worry about it before then.
“Not right now. It’s all Atlanta Falcons right now,” Garoppolo said. “All of it is just talk and rumors right now. It is what it is.”
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!Follow @YahooSchwab