Shockt327
Rotational Player and Threatening Starter's Job
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2008
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- 1,410
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I find the outrage among fans/media over the Jimmy G trade to be complete revisionist history. Patriots fans/media all knew, and openly discussed (for years) that Belichick was most likely going to hang onto Jimmy G until the last year of his rookie contract -- which we all knew would allow Belichick the most amount of time to assess whether Brady would be starting to slip -- and then trade away Jimmy G if Brady was still Brady. Sure enough, this is exactly what happens...and the same fans/media throw a fit and claim it was never part of Belichick's plan, and Kraft must've ruined it all, etc, etc. Yeah right.
Truth is Belichick held onto Jimmy G for as long as possible - as he should have - to make sure Brady's game wasn't deteriorating into the first half of 2017. But, because this means you are now waiting until the trade deadline in late October; that makes Jimmy G lose trade-value. Why? Because now any trade partner....
1) is trading for only half a season. No preseason to teach him the system, or build rapport with teammates. Plug and play (with a limited # of plays in the playbook) and evaluate.
2) knows that Jimmy G is most likely going to be a free agent the next year anyway
3) already knows that 2018 has a very good QB draft class
With all this in mind, getting only a 2nd for Jimmy G -- in late October -- isn't nearly as far fetched and irrational as people make it out to be. Keep in mind; he only played 6 quarters of football for NE. Six quarters. Got hurt. (Possibly) Intentionally sat out that 4th game in order to not jeopardize his perceived value. So, let's not pretend Jimmy G was a sure thing when that trade was made; even if it happened earlier, over the off-season. And his agent is Brady's agent; which makes it harder to keep both with a new contract.
BTW - If you want my 2 cents of fan-conspiracy-theory; I think people are drastically underestimating Belichick's questions/doubts about Brady heading into 2017; and I'm specifically referring to the (highly un-Belichick-ian) trade w/ New Orleans for Brandon Cooks. I specifically remember Belichick said that ATL and HOU played middle-of-the-field-closed and the offense had no answer for it. Yeah, that's comment on your personnel, but I can't help but think that it's a legit question about your QB too. Brady absolutely struggled to keep HOU's and ATL's press-coverage at-bay with the deep ball (the passes to Hogan were not pretty), and I can't help but think Brandon Cooks was a litmus test for this in 2017. You had both ATL and HOU on the schedule for 2017 again. If Brady ran into the same exact problem again, with a proven deep threat on the roster in Cooks; then I don't think Belichick trades Garroppolo mid-season. Instead, Brady lit it up going vertical with Cooks and forced Belichick's hand.
Truth is Belichick held onto Jimmy G for as long as possible - as he should have - to make sure Brady's game wasn't deteriorating into the first half of 2017. But, because this means you are now waiting until the trade deadline in late October; that makes Jimmy G lose trade-value. Why? Because now any trade partner....
1) is trading for only half a season. No preseason to teach him the system, or build rapport with teammates. Plug and play (with a limited # of plays in the playbook) and evaluate.
2) knows that Jimmy G is most likely going to be a free agent the next year anyway
3) already knows that 2018 has a very good QB draft class
With all this in mind, getting only a 2nd for Jimmy G -- in late October -- isn't nearly as far fetched and irrational as people make it out to be. Keep in mind; he only played 6 quarters of football for NE. Six quarters. Got hurt. (Possibly) Intentionally sat out that 4th game in order to not jeopardize his perceived value. So, let's not pretend Jimmy G was a sure thing when that trade was made; even if it happened earlier, over the off-season. And his agent is Brady's agent; which makes it harder to keep both with a new contract.
BTW - If you want my 2 cents of fan-conspiracy-theory; I think people are drastically underestimating Belichick's questions/doubts about Brady heading into 2017; and I'm specifically referring to the (highly un-Belichick-ian) trade w/ New Orleans for Brandon Cooks. I specifically remember Belichick said that ATL and HOU played middle-of-the-field-closed and the offense had no answer for it. Yeah, that's comment on your personnel, but I can't help but think that it's a legit question about your QB too. Brady absolutely struggled to keep HOU's and ATL's press-coverage at-bay with the deep ball (the passes to Hogan were not pretty), and I can't help but think Brandon Cooks was a litmus test for this in 2017. You had both ATL and HOU on the schedule for 2017 again. If Brady ran into the same exact problem again, with a proven deep threat on the roster in Cooks; then I don't think Belichick trades Garroppolo mid-season. Instead, Brady lit it up going vertical with Cooks and forced Belichick's hand.
