Garoppolo is the last piece of the puzzle

[Brady6]

My thinking may be extremely optimistic but if Garoppolo performs well during Brady's absence we could flip him for a first round pick and more. We have a replacement in house already thanks to this draft.

Garoppolo would give us back the first round pick we lost this year and it would all be because of the suspension giving him a chance to play.

 

[PittPatriot]

We have a replacement in house?
I feel like I am missing something with Brissett. He is an option QB who some scouts said "lacks instincts." I never knew he existed until he was drafted.

 

[jah]

We have a replacement in house?
I feel like I am missing something with Brissett. He is an option QB whose some scouts said "lack instincts." I never knew he existed until he was drafted.

Still had round 3-4 projections on some sites. He wouldn't have been my choice, but I'm okay with the pick.

 

[james87654]

jimmy g is our aaron rodgers

he is the future

we need to support him and have his back

 

[Canuck]

I get the feeling that Brady's long term replacement is not currently on the roster. The odds that we have another franchise player already on the roster is pretty low. None of the QB's that we drafted before have turned into franchise QB's on another team after they left the Patriots. Is it too much to hope for another elite QB after Brady is gone

 

[long distance]

I get the feeling that Brady's long term replacement is not currently on the roster. The odds that we have another franchise player already on the roster is pretty low. None of the QB's that we drafted before have turned into franchise QB's on another team after they left the Patriots. Is it too much to hope for another elite QB after Brady is gone

Can we please give Jimmy G some credit here. We are lucky to have him.

 

[Gronk]

The transition will end up being controversial for many unless Garoppolo ended up going somewhere else fully of his own accord (Osweiler style), and subsequently falling on his face. Which I don't wish for the guy, he seems like a good dude and under any other scenario I'd be thrilled to see him getting his shot, and even hopeful as a fan that there was another potential franchise QB around. But I'm of the mind that the Pats fully expect Brady to, at the very least, play out his current deal and maybe two more years (if we're all so fortunate?). So yeah, you get what you get for Grop, wish him the best, and if that means the 2023 Patriots kinda suck.....oh well.

Call it what you want - Brady-fan-not-NE-fan, overly optimistic about TB12's confidence in himself to remain elite into his 40's - I hope Brady gets to play as long as he wants in NE. Even if he drove the whole thing into the ground. I never want to see him forced out in a passing of the torch or in another jersey. It's unfathomable. If he has a 9 TD, 17 INT season (he won't) it should be in NE. "Better a year too early than a year too late...." I've always liked as a mantra. Except Tom. Lord knows he's earned it. He built the damn thing. I trust him that he'll quit "when he sucks" but if he was elsewhere the other side of that is that I would have to equally have to root for and hate watching him chase a SB with some other team.

Aside: Montana-Young and Favre-Rodgers are the obvious comparisons on the crass presumption that Grop also becomes a HOFer, but it's hardly an exact corollary. Montana had not been as durable over his career as TB, and ultimately lost his job due to injury while chasing a 3-peat - and he would've gotten it back in '92 if Young hadn't improved on a pretty ****ty '91 season that Montana missed entirely (ok not just "improved", Young won the MVP but they had a legit QB controversy at that point). Favre was ****ing with GB about retiring every year starting around '04 before they even drafted Rodgers, and was always a little reckless for the new coach especially when compared to what they were seeing with Rodgers. The fanbase was as sick of Favre's **** as the coaches were and ready to move on, though I do wonder how that would have played differently if Favre had pulled off winning the SB in '09 with Minnesota before Rodgers led GB there the next year.

 

[VectorPrime]

We run with Tom until the end. If Jimmy G nets us a 1st round pick you trade him in half a heart beat and load up for 2 more years.

 

[Bourne Again Christian]

What if Jimmy G lights it up and Brady struggles for the next 4 games?
You know what BB would do.

 

[supafly]

I love to think about the possibilities of Garoppolo doing well, but the truth is that we have no idea how he'll do, and very little to base our judgement off of. I'm hoping for a 2-2 start to the season when Brady comes back.

 

[bigballas]

jimmy g is our aaron rodgers

he is the future

we need to support him and have his back

why do we need a aaron rodgers when we have a tom brady?

 

[Gronk]

What if Jimmy G lights it up and Brady struggles for the next 4 games?
You know what BB would do.

If we're fully deep diving hypotheticals define "lights it up" and "struggles". Yeah, if JG threw for 1200yds-12tds-2ints and the team went 4-0 and Tom came back for 4 games at 800yds-6tds-5ints and they went 1-3 you'd have a situation. One that would involve a QB who would be 40 when the 2017 season starts with a $27m dead cap hit next year and as a result a severely reduced trade value on top of any other issues for the 2016 Patriots, to say nothing of the future.

Does anybody really consider that a realistic approximation of how this plays out? Despite my prolonged account a few posts up, if JG is amazing this season in his demo and Brady inexplicably ****s the bed like some 2nd rate scrub then yeah, this all comes to a head sooner than anyone might have expected. But come on. Seriously?

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

The transition will end up being controversial for many unless Garoppolo ended up going somewhere else fully of his own accord (Osweiler style), and subsequently falling on his face. Which I don't wish for the guy, he seems like a good dude and under any other scenario I'd be thrilled to see him getting his shot, and even hopeful as a fan that there was another potential franchise QB around. But I'm of the mind that the Pats fully expect Brady to, at the very least, play out his current deal and maybe two more years (if we're all so fortunate?). So yeah, you get what you get for Grop, wish him the best, and if that means the 2023 Patriots kinda suck.....oh well.

Call it what you want - Brady-fan-not-NE-fan, overly optimistic about TB12's confidence in himself to remain elite into his 40's - I hope Brady gets to play as long as he wants in NE. Even if he drove the whole thing into the ground. I never want to see him forced out in a passing of the torch or in another jersey. It's unfathomable. If he has a 9 TD, 17 INT season (he won't) it should be in NE. "Better a year too early than a year too late...." I've always liked as a mantra. Except Tom. Lord knows he's earned it. He built the damn thing. I trust him that he'll quit "when he sucks" but if he was elsewhere the other side of that is that I would have to equally have to root for and hate watching him chase a SB with some other team.

Aside: Montana-Young and Favre-Rodgers are the obvious comparisons on the crass presumption that Grop also becomes a HOFer, but it's hardly an exact corollary. Montana had not been as durable over his career as TB, and ultimately lost his job due to injury while chasing a 3-peat - and he would've gotten it back in '92 if Young hadn't improved on a pretty ****ty '91 season that Montana missed entirely (ok not just "improved", Young won the MVP but they had a legit QB controversy at that point). Favre was ****ing with GB about retiring every year starting around '04 before they even drafted Rodgers, and was always a little reckless for the new coach especially when compared to what they were seeing with Rodgers. The fanbase was as sick of Favre's **** as the coaches were and ready to move on, though I do wonder how that would have played differently if Favre had pulled off winning the SB in '09 with Minnesota before Rodgers led GB there the next year.

Okay, all good points. Each of those examples had their own unique considerations (Montana's injury history, Farve's growing unpopularity) but the fact is those teams allowed HOFers to walk when they still had a lot to offer. Montana quickly led the Chiefs to the NFC Championship game, and Farve did the same with the Vikings not long after leaving.

But that did not stop San Fran or Green Bay from gambling with younger, promising quarterbacks and rebuilding their teams around Steve Young and Aaron Rodgers. And eventually, those rebuild projects paid off tremendously (took the 49ers 4 seasons before winning a title with Young, missing the playoffs once in 91'....and it took the Packers 3 seasons to win a title after missing the playoffs once in 2008)

If the Patriots were to gamble on Jimmy, we would have to agonize watching Brady make another team a title contender, while possibly watching our team miss the playoffs at least once...but the payoff could be phenomenal down the road.

I still think Garoppolo has lot to prove before we can start comparing him to the likes of Rodgers or even Steve Young. But I would hope that someone as versed in football history like Belichick, would be able to draw lessons from all this.

We run with Tom until the end. If Jimmy G nets us a 1st round pick you trade him in half a heart beat and load up for 2 more years.

This is not about being loyal to Brady... it's about this team taking control of its own destiny. I have no problem letting Brady walk and giving away a potential title to another team... if it means having a chance to compete for several more down the road

 

[Gwedd]

Anyone else remember what happened to Bledsoe? yeah. He got all healed up, but the young gunslinger had made too good of an impression on the fans, the team, and Coach. No contest.

I'd love to see Brady come in and win his 5th SB. Wicked Pissah that, especially this year as a GFY tour to the league and that thug monkey commissioner.

But We'll all have to wait and see, you know? Cassel took over in '08 and the team went 11-5 and would've hit the playoffs if that jackwagon favre hadn't reverted to form and thrown a game-ending INT.

Things happen. It's why we love to watch the game. It's why I and Joker drink.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

jimmy g is our aaron rodgers

he is the future

we need to support him and have his back

He has to earn our support first... but yeah, I like the kid, and want to see him succeed here

 

[MainePatsFan26]

I get the feeling that Brady's long term replacement is not currently on the roster. The odds that we have another franchise player already on the roster is pretty low. None of the QB's that we drafted before have turned into franchise QB's on another team after they left the Patriots. Is it too much to hope for another elite QB after Brady is gone

When Brady leaves, we'll probably sink into mediocrity for a bit with how we're running the roster (i.e. too much talent to be outright bad, even without a decent quarterback). If the Hoodie wants to stick around to win some championships without Brady, though, the Patriots might need to trade away talent for picks, tank for a year or two, get a top pick or trade up for one, and roll the dice on a qb to develop as the face of the franchise.

What the Patriots can't afford to do post-Brady is fall into a cycle of mediocrity like the Dallas Cowboys since their great 90s squad. You've first got to be bad in this league before you can attain greatness. The only reason the Patriots have delayed this inevitable decline is the presence of Brady. Sure, the Hoodie has put them over the top with great coaching, but honestly you can't win in this league without a quarterback or a defense that is the best of its generation (*cough* Broncos and Ravens).

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

When Brady leaves, we'll probably sink into mediocrity for a bit with how we're running the roster (i.e. too much talent to be outright bad, even without a decent quarterback). If the Hoodie wants to stick around to win some championships without Brady, though, the Patriots might need to trade away talent for picks, tank for a year or two, get a top pick or trade up for one, and roll the dice on a qb to develop as the face of the franchise.

Tanking?

No thanks... I do not want us to become the Colts

 

[MainePatsFan26]

When Brady leaves, we'll probably sink into mediocrity for a bit with how we're running the roster (i.e. too much talent to be outright bad, even without a decent quarterback). If the Hoodie wants to stick around to win some championships without Brady, though, the Patriots might need to trade away talent for picks, tank for a year or two, get a top pick or trade up for one, and roll the dice on a qb to develop as the face of the franchise.

Tanking?

No thanks... I do not want us to become the Colts

Eh... the Colts didn't plan on tanking until they were tanking. That's just spin. I'm thinking of an engineered tankapolooza as a purely strategic move.

 

[Gronk]

Okay, all good points. Each of those examples had their own unique considerations (Montana's injury history, Farve's growing unpopularity) but the fact is those teams allowed HOFers to walk when they still had a lot to offer. Montana quickly led the Chiefs to the NFC Championship game, and Farve did the same with the Vikings not long after leaving.

But that did not stop San Fran or Green Bay from gambling with younger, promising quarterbacks and rebuilding their teams around Steve Young and Aaron Rodgers. And eventually, those rebuild projects paid off tremendously (took the 49ers 4 seasons before winning a title with Young, missing the playoffs once in 91'....and it took the Packers 3 seasons to win a title after missing the playoffs once in 2008)

If the Patriots were to gamble on Jimmy, we would have to agonize watching Brady make another team a title contender, while possibly watching our team miss the playoffs at least once...but the payoff could be phenomenal down the road.

I still think Garoppolo has lot to prove before we can start comparing him to the likes of Rodgers or even Steve Young. But I would hope that someone as versed in football history like Belichick, would be able to draw lessons from all this.

That's all fair. I'm admittedly being selfish and narrow in not wanting the Montana/Favre trajectory for Tom. I think he's markedly better than the Montana who left SF, or the Favre who left GB. Significantly better at the moment, actually, by any measure you'd like to use, in spite of being older than either at the time. The fact that Grop could maybe, possibly lead the next transition is cold comfort to me. If Grop was Tony Romo but only a little more healthy, that would be amazing but only might get you a shot at a Super Bowl.

To my mind the main differences to take away would be injury (in Montana's case), or own stated desire (in Favre's). There's zero indication from Tom that he's declined physically or mentally in his ability and desire to play the game, and to play QB specifically for the Patriots. It is the everything of what he is as a person. What we are talking about, even in extreme hypotheticals, is literally unprecedented. As is the idea of walking away from him for some unconfirmed future. I get what you're saying in the sense of long-term team building, and it worked out very well for SF with Young and GB with Rodgers. But what if the Dolphins had sent Marino somewhere because Scott Mitchell just couldn't be denied? The Bulls walked away from Jordan/Pippen when they could have walked to a 4-peat so they could tank and get Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler. Oops! Tom is the GOAT, and Belichick (god love him) is kinda old. They are married. Ride that **** out. Til wheels come off, at the bitter ****ing end. That might be a 2020 Super Bowl title. Who cares if they suck in 7 years?

 

[VectorPrime]

I am a firm believer that the NFL is on borrowed time due to CTE issues. So frankly I don't give a damn what the team will be like in 10-15 years because it might not even matter anymore. We run with Brady until the wheels fall off because we need to enjoy it while it lasts.