upstater1
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Disagree that it made no sense. Disagree that Belichick had to make a decision. It made a lot of sense to keep Garoppolo on. Most of us here preferred having him back up rather than a pick simply because we were within our Super Bowl window and saw no point in not keeping that insurance.Wickersham said that Kraft told Belichick to trade Garoppolo in the fall of 2017. Lynch said Belichick refused to entertain a trade in spring of 2017 and then he traded him in October of 2017. That backs up Wickersham's information.
I don't think Wickersham said that Belichick wanted to move on from Brady before the 2017 season or even during the 2017 season.
What you don't remember or refuse to accept is that Belichick had to make the decision who he was going to keep after 2017 season. Not before. After 2017 season, Garoppolo's rookie contract was up. They couldn't keep both QBs. Garoppolo would have commanded the franchise tag or a starter salary. So he either would have cut or traded Brady or let Jimmy walk or franchise and trade him.
But keeping Garoppolo in the 2017 offseason only to trade him before the trade deadline made no sense. Either you traded him during the 2017 offseason or franchise him and trade him in the 2018 offseason. Trading him before the trade deadline gets you the least amount of value. Hence why it looks like Kraft forced the issue. The Pats probably could have gotten a first or more if they traded him in the 2017 offseason.
I still think the plan was to trade Brady and give Garoppolo a decent starting QB salary after 2017 season. Belichick seemed to think Garoppolo was the successor and the Pats had to make the decision on whether to move on from Brady and go with Jimmy after the 2017 season.
AND given the way the call went down, I highly doubt Wickersham's story that Belichick was ordered to trade Garoppolo.
After all, Lynch called Belichick about the trade. Belichick didn't call Lynch. Belichick wasn't shopping Garoppolo around. Lynch even said that BB hung up on him after he asked for Brady (he was joking). But he said after he got off the phone with Belichick, Belichick called him right back and offered Garoppolo.
This is much less an order to trade Garoppolo or even a plan on Belichick's or anyone's part. It sounds like Lynch called him, and after a moment, Belichick called him and offered Garoppolo.