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jimmy garoppolo

Five Trade Bait Patriots

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WIth news of Derek Rivers being flown back to Boston for an MRI on his knee and Kony Ealy getting banged up (but returning) in joint practices with the Texans, the Patriots already-precarious and inexperienced depth just took another blow. They’re down to Trey Flowers and Geneo Grissom as their only two fully healthy ends.

Could the Patriots explore a trade to bring in needed reinforcements at the position? Of course it will depend on the prognosis for Rivers and Deatrich Wise, who suffered a concussion in the first preseason game. Though even with those two fully healthy and in the mix, Ealy’s disappointing camp has still left something to be desired from this important position.

The Patriots never stand pat with their roster. As much as we want to do 53-man roster projections and think that that will be the 2017, the team is constantly tinkering with their players, bringing guys in off the street and via trade.

But to bring someone in via trade the Pats would have to give up something. Let’s take a look at five Patriots who could be trade bait.

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Patriots Positional Preview: Quarterbacks

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<a rel=I’ve saved the best for last here with the positional preview excerpts from the season preview guide (available here in its entirety for just $5) — the quarterbacks.

The Patriots have the luxury of having three quarterbacks that they love on the roster. Yes, it all starts with Tom Brady, who, in his 17th season as the starter, has a chance to keep setting the bar for quarterback greatness even higher. It’s hard not to feel spoiled wondering about the implications of another Super Bowl season for number 12. Brady has delivered one of the most special NFL careers in history and shows no signs of slowing down.

But we all know the end of NFL careers can come abruptly so it’s important to enjoy every moment that we get to see the legend continue. The Patriots are well protected with Jimmy Garoppolo, who was the subject of much debate all offseason.

All along I believed they should keep Garoppolo. Having a quarterback you can win with is the absolute most valuable asset a team can have and it would be foolish to move him for anything less than a blockbuster deal that would give the Patriots multiple high-round assets over the next few seasons.

Now the team has a reliable backup quarterback who would still keep the Pats very much in the Super Bowl contender conversation should the unthinkable happen atop the depth chart. They can use the Cassel method next offseason, franchise tag and trade, to still get something for Garoppolo. It might not be as much as they might’ve gotten this past offseason, but that’s the price of insurance. At this stage of Belichick and Brady’s career, I’m fine paying a little extra for insurance.

Brissett is the true x-factor in all of this. If he continues to build on a rookie season where he was thrown into the fire immediately, he just might be the heir apparent everyone assumed Garoppolo would be. Brissett’s development will be a major thing to watch this summer through the preseason, and could tell us a lot about Garoppolo’s future.

Here’s a closer look at the trio of signal callers.

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How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Tom Brady

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For the second year in a row a New England Patriot will appear on the cover of Madden, after Rob Gronkowski’s appearance last season which lived up to the “curse” of ending the appearing player’s season early. So it’s no surprise that most of us got dry heaves when it was announced that Tom Brady would be featured this year.

Brady responded with a Facebook video that seemed to tempt fate, making things even worse.

The implications of the Madden Curse are a little overrated. Eight-and-a-half times the cover boy had the kind of season the folks at EA expected, including four All Pros and four Pro Bowls, and eight-and-a-half other times their seasons were bad or resulted in injury. That’s right, 50-50 right on the nose, which in reality is just about every NFL’s players chances of having a bad or injury-marred year.

Still, it’s just another thing for Patriots fans to worry about when in reality, they shouldn’t have all the much to worry about. Or should they?

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It’s Time to Talk Some Patriots Draft

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It’s hard to believe that April is quickly approaching. I guess that’s what happens when your football season stretches into February. Between parades and celebrations it didn’t feel like the offseason even really started until a couple of weeks ago. Ah, the spoils of being a Patriots fan.

This of course means that the draft will soon be on us. I’ve got to be honest with you guys… I’m kind of over the draft. Well, not the part where the Patriots get some new toys to play with, the lead-up part where everyone’s an expert and no one is really an expert. There are mock drafts upon mock drafts and vehement arguments about who’s a good fit and all that. I’m over it.

And with the Patriots (currently) not picking until the third round it makes all the speculation even more silly.

Anyway, I’ll still proceed with my draft research, which, since 2011 has consisted of putting together a Top 50 Patriots Prospects Board and one single glorious mock draft. You can see all of it in the menu bar above, including my tragic fall from grace last season when I got Cyrus Jones and only Cyrus Jones.

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Report: Pats Not “Expected” To Trade Garoppolo

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Patriots Cardinals Gameplan

Adam Schefter tweeted this morning that the Patriots are “not expected” to trade Jimmy Garoppolo. Does that mean they’re not taking offers? Of course not. Remember the next two months leading up to the draft, and especially during free agency, are all about misinformation.

Remember that when free agency opens next week and you hear that the Patriots are interested in just about every high profile player to hit the open market. That’s the agents doing their part to put a little Patriots shine on their player in hopes of driving up interest and ultimately the price tag.

Well, that works both ways. If the rest of the league believes the Patriots are in no rush to unload Garoppolo they might just try to make an offer the Pats can’t refuse. Let’s face it, there aren’t many quarterback options out there, certainly none of which have half the hype that Garoppolo has after showing incredible poise in the game and a half he played this season.

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Pats Posits: The Cold, Dead Offseason

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We’re now two weeks removed from the Patriots’ Super Bowl 51 victory and the reality of the offseason is starting to sink in. The other thing that is sinking in? How much that Super Bowl 51 victory meant and its place in Patriots history.

From here on out with Belichick and Brady, it’s all icing on the cake. You know that they’ll take at least a couple more major swings at number six, and maybe the team will stay healthy enough to get it. But they got number five, in uber dramatic fashion, and there’s simply no denying the greatness of this run, no matter how hard anyone wants to bang the ‘Gates drum.

As we slip into offseason mode there’s a certain calm that comes after winning a legacy-cementing Super Bowl. Yeah there are a bunch of free agents and a bunch of cap space, but at this point, it’s like whatever, BB’s got this.

All we know for sure is that it will be interesting, maybe more so than usual.

More on the coming offseason and the rest of the Super Bowl fallout in the Posits.

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Report: Browns Interested in Jimmy G

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Sources say the Browns’ interest in Garoppolo is real and that they’ll try to trade for him depending on how their draft evaluations go over the next five weeks or so. If the Browns decide to draft Mitch Trubisky or Deshaun Watson in the first round, they’ll be much less likely to pursue the Patriots’ backup — but wouldn’t rule it out.

But they’ll have competition for Garoppolo that will drive up the price. Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan liked him coming out of the draft, and might pursue a deal once he formally becomes the 49ers’ head coach.

The 49ers have the No. 2 pick in the draft, and are also looking for a quarterback.

But the Browns are intrigued, sources say, and they’ll strongly consider it. The cost could be the No. 12 overall pick and more.

Source: Mary Kay Cabot/Cleveland.com

As expected, teams are going to line up to get a shot at Jimmy Garoppolo this offseason, with the Cleveland Browns leading the way. The Browns have two first round picks and two second round picks, so they have the ammo that the Pats will likely require to part ways with the talented Tom Brady apprentice.

I wrote this a couple months ago, and I haven’t really changed my tune. I know Brady has looked as good as ever this season but the end can come quickly and this is one position you shouldn’t mess around with. You have a player in-house and under contract for another season that can step in and win football games.

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