The San Francisco 49ers shook the NFL world on Saturday, trading a king’s ransom to move up to the third-overall pick. Everyone in the world knows that they’re going to draft a quarterback, meaning that Jimmy Garoppolo might not be long for the west coast. However, if the 49ers plan on moving him, it won’t be to the New England Patriots. According to ESPN’s Jordan Schultz, the Patriots are “not pursuing” the quarterback and are content to enter the season with Cam Newton as the starter.
#Patriots are not pursuing #49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo, per sources. Cap space isn’t there and obviously Cam Newton will return. Additionally, the draft is flush with QBs. No Jimmy GQ reunion for the Pats in foreseeable future.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) March 28, 2021
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NFL Rumors: New England Patriots Out on Jimmy Garoppolo
Bill Belichick is obviously fond of Garoppolo and reportedly offered as much as a second-round pick for his services earlier in the offseason. However, that happened when New England had upwards of $65 million in available cap space and didn’t have Cam Newton under contract. Since then, the Patriots re-signed Newton and went absolutely wild on the free-agent market. The team currently has just over $12.6 million in cap space, and acquiring Garoppolo would eat into that remaining money.
Of course, this isn’t to say that the Patriots will exclusively roll with Newton in 2021. The veteran quarterback is better than he looked last year, but he’s not a long-term solution at the position. Even if the Patriots can’t get one of the elite quarterbacks in this class, they will still invest in someone like Alabama’s Mac Jones in the first round or Florida’s Kyle Trask in the second.
For what it’s worth, the 49ers do not appear interested in moving Garoppolo, at least in the short term. Head coach Kyle Shanahan reportedly believes that his team is a Super Bowl contender with a healthy quarterback, and Garoppolo has proven capable of solid play when on the field. 2022 might be a different story, but it sounds like the 49ers plan on having Garoppolo under center for at least one more year.
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