The market for New England Patriots backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is already starting to take shape, and the Chicago Bears are believed to be one of the strongest suitors.
The Bears are expected to move on from Jay Cutler this offseason, and they are in desperate need of stability at the quarterback position. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports said Thursday that Chicago’s “intent and willingness to complete a trade could not be more serious.” While the Patriots are expected to receive multiple offers for the 25-year-old, the Bears are in position to get Bill Belichick’s attention.
The Bears have abundant draft picks they could trade — including picks in the top three of each round — and while rival executives do not believe the Patriots will land a first-round pick that high via trade, a package including multiple high second-round picks is quite possible. Furthermore, trading Garoppolo out of the AFC would appeal to the Patriots, who expect him to prosper elsewhere.
The Bears have done extensive work on Garoppolo and are very comfortable with him. He shined in the preseason and was exceptional filling in for Tom Brady during his four-game suspension and has strong roots to that community. He played at Eastern Illinois, where (Bears GM Ryan Pace) played as well. (Tony) Romo, Mike Shanahan and Saints coach Sean Payton are also Eastern Illinois products; Pace and Payton worked together in New Orleans and were very high on Garoppolo coming out of college.
La Canfora also lists the New York Jets as a team that would love to trade for Garoppolo, but we all know Belichick would retire before he risked contributing to rescuing his biggest division rival from its own quarterback conundrum.
With Tom Brady showing no signs of slowing down and Garoppolo only under contract for one more season, the Patriots would be wise to cash in when his stock is seemingly very high. The Bears will likely get a lot of competition from at least one other desperate team, but they seem like a very logical trade partner for New England.
