The New England Patriots’ hopes of landing San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo are fading, according to ESPN’s Dianna Russini.
Russini, who reported that the Patriots were sniffing around Garoppolo earlier this offseason, said on Thursday that New England is more likely to target a quarterback in the draft than it is to trade for Garoppolo. The 49ers traded three first-round picks to move up to third overall in the 2021 draft — and it’s a near certainty they’ll take a quarterback. That made it seem like San Francisco was ready to move on from Garoppolo. But coach Kyle Shannahan has suggested he’d like to keep Garoppolo to serve as a bridge quarterback to let the rookie develop.
Here’s what Russini said on “Get Up.”
“It doesn’t look like they’re going to wind up trading for Jimmy G. In fact, someone close to the New England Patriots shared with me that you should probably look to the draft for them to go quarterback. In terms of the Jimmy G thing, I’m not going to say it’s dead. I’ll never say anything’s dead. I’ve learned the hard way in this business. But at the same time, the reality is I think every day that goes by probably is another day that we wave goodbye to Jimmy in New England again.”
Of course, that’s for the start of 2021. Garoppolo could be available at the trade deadline if he loses the job to the rookie — and the quarterback could also be available during the 2022 offseason. So maybe the Patriots aren’t getting Garoppolo prior to training camp. But this storyline isn’t dead.
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