This is what happens when you have too much time on your hands

[patfanken]

As the Garapolo story heats up as the League meetings are scheduled to start, I was musing about the MAIN reason why the Pats would want to keep him. Clearly the Pats are gearing up for a another very serious run at another championship. It's a run that would continue if anything happened to Brady IF we had JG still on the roster. We can all agree on that.

But what if we DO trade Jimmy for the boatload of picks they would need would need to make it happen. The deal that that I would consider enough would be for the #12 pick, the 52nd pick (Cleveland's 2nd pick in round 2) and #176 in the fifth) PLUS a conditional pick in 2018 that would range from Cleveland's 4th round pick guaranteed, to 1st rounder. (ie 3rd rounder if JG plays 75% of the snaps and signs a LT deal with the Browns. 2nd rounder if JG plays 75% of the snaps, signs LT, and the Browns win 4 games. 1st round if JG plays 75% of the snaps, signs LT and the Browns win 8 games.) That would still leave the Browns with at least one of their picks at the top of every round, with the most likely result in the 2nd rounder next year. It is literally 4 good picks for a player you hope never sees the field in 2017.

OK well done, BB, but what do we do about our back up. It would seem to be a stretch to think Brissett in his 2nd year would be able to make a strong run, but I could be wrong. But just in case this would be the back up plan. (although a very contraversial one). I would bring in former Harvard grade, Ryan Fitzpatrick to compete with Brissett for the back up job.

Now before you go nuts, let me state my case. Fitzpatrick is a perfect back up. If we were honest, we have seen enough of him to know he's a competent if inconsistent starter in the league. But what are we looking for if Brady goes down for a few games. Someone who can go .500 in his absence. Fitzpatrick can do that, even at his inconsistent worst. But I'd say he could be better than that because of the offensive system he'd be coming to, the talent around him, and the quality defense.

We could easily afford t0 guarantee him $1MM on a 3-4MM contract, and that should get him in to compete to make the team. We've all seen him make a lot of great throws against us over the years with some pretty bad teams. Of the veterans still out there only Cutler comes close to his talent level and I think Fitzpatrick would be the better fit in the locker room and would be cheaper.

OK - you might not like the idea, but at least its something to talk about that doesn't involve Malcolm Butler or RFA rules,.

 

[Simpelton]

I've actually thought the same thing in generic terms, bringing in a placeholder veteran if we trade Jimmy G.

Yes, that means you should be afraid

 

[chasa]

ill take brisset over the dude who had like 100 turnovers last season.

 

[nabwong]

If only we could pay Fitzpatrick to start for the Fins.

 

[PatsDeb]

This is actually not a bad idea if we are offered a boat load of picks for Jimmy G. Brady is unlikely to need time off anyway (no jinx no jinx no jinx!) and if he does, you have an inconsistent but experienced starter who has shown flashes of "good"ness at a cheap rate waiting in the wings, and Brissette continuing to develop. It's actually just the kind of thing that BB would do. Who knows what Fitz could do with the likes of Gronk & Edelman (but hopefully we'll never have to find out).

 

[fxmallon]

I am a Fitzpatrick fan, but it skipped my mind that he was available. So I'm with your proposal all the way.

Fitz, to me, is kind of like that Bret guy up at Green Bay. He's cool, not quite the same gunslinger, but not far behind, and when on can be deadly accurate. I love his ruggedness too--he plays injured, and plays effectively under bad circumstances. I think he's the perfect choice if Jimmy G goes.

 

[Ivan]

I'm all for bringing ina veteran if they move Garrapolo, Fitzpatrick is a turnover machine but McDanielsmight be able to work with him on decision making so I wouldn't rule it out.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I live in NYC and have followed Fitz closely in the tabloids over the past couple of seasons.

I don't think he can any longer be described as a "competent if inconsistent starter." I don't think any one of the legitimately knowledgeable sports media down here regards him as such. Heck, I don't think that even he views himself in that way...but was more than happy to cash a $12 million dollar check last year and wouldn't mind picking up $2--4 million more this year if any team is foolish enough to sign him. Talk about laughing all the way to the bank! He is a very smart, genuinely likable guy, who really knows how to take your money with a smile.

I'm not going to get into the endless speculation about whether and for how long Brady might or might not "go down" and whether Brissett and/or Garoppolo are viable replacements, as it's a complete waste of time; only Belichick and Josh are in a position to have a clear view on that. But, I am reasonably confident that Fitz is not a "competent if inconsistent" alternative to any one of the three.

 

[Simpelton]

One thing we l know -- if we don't acquire anyone, and lose Brady after dealing Jimmy G, the season instantly becomes a surprise development year. Because I actually like Brissett in many ways but he's years away from being ready for prime time and it would take a herculean effort of development to get him to a state anything close to readiness for these playoffs..

 

[Ivan]

One thing we l know -- if we don't acquire anyone, and lose Brady after dealing Jimmy G, the season instantly becomes a surprise development year. Because I actually like Brissett in many ways but he's years away from being ready for prime time and it would take a herculean effort of development to get him to a state anything close to readiness for these playoffs..

Jimmy Garrapolo was called on to fill in for Brady for four games last season and couldn't make it through 6 quarters, how are they supposed to count on him for any extended period of time when he went out on his first big hit, and couldn't answer the bell when they expected him to against Buffalo?

All of your fantasies about Jimmy Garrapolo work just fine in your head but the reality of the situation is that he has not shown himself to be reliable to this point.

 

[patfanken]

ill take brisset over the dude who had like 100 turnovers last season.

I think that last season was an aberration. 6 picks came in one game. When your team is constantly playing from behind you are forced to take more chances than you would if you were playing from ahead. Plus over the last 7 years Fitzpatrick was a starter, he's thrown more TD's than picks in 6 of them.

He might not be the ideal starter, but think about the teams he's played for over the years. in 2015 he had 3 legit receivers and a decent OL for the first time, and he threw for 30 TD's.

He's never going to get hired to run the show anymore, so why not take short money to see what it's like to expect to win every week and compete for a championship. Besides where else can you make a couple of million dollars for holding a clip board in a city that you are familiar with.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Ken, the sweetener in the Fitzy deal is to have Gillette guarantee him free razors & blades.
You gots ta know your players.

P.S. I think Fitz is a good idea. Not Tufts smart, but still smart enough to grok the essence of the Pats offense

 

[brdmaverick]

ok, I like the thought process. I'm curious how much people think coaching is a factor.

For instance, do we think Josh and BB could salvage the season with guys like Fitz and Kaepernick, or are they just fool's gold based on short stints of success they've had at one point in the past?

 

[Simpelton]

Jimmy Garrapolo was called on to fill in for Brady for four games last season and couldn't make it through 6 quarters, how are they supposed to count on him for any extended period of time when he went out on his first big hit, and couldn't answer the bell when they expected him to against Buffalo?

All of your fantasies about Jimmy Garrapolo work just fine in your head but the reality of the situation is that he has not shown himself to be reliable to this point.

I'm sorry, is it that much to ask that you actually keep to the topic of the thread, which has very little to do with Garoppolo and even less to do with Brady?

The point here is that if we do move Jimmy G, and something happens to Brady (which are assumptions asked of us by the OP and not topics for debate), Brissett is probably not ready for primary backup duties. He didn't look bad in his emergency cameo, but that's only because we hold emergency cameos to a very low standard. By the standard of a starting quarterback Brissett sucked the big one. So if we do deal Garoppolo, and I'm not making any value judgements in this thread about whether we should or should not do so, we should probably acquire a veteran backup of some sort.

 

[Soliel]

What if they just put je11 back there and have jb catch passes?

Id pay to see that.

 

[SuperStang83]

Didn't Fitz refuse to play last year if he wasn't paid something like $12mil? I don't remember exactly, but if it is the case then I don't think there's any way he plays for us for 3-4mil.

 

[Rob0729]

Fitzpatrick is a good player off the bench or short term. His problem is he is not a good or even mediocre full time starter. I wouldn't mind him as a back up.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

I think that last season was an aberration. 6 picks came in one game. When your team is constantly playing from behind you are forced to take more chances than you would if you were playing from ahead. Plus over the last 7 years Fitzpatrick was a starter, he's thrown more TD's than picks in 6 of them.

He might not be the ideal starter, but think about the teams he's played for over the years. in 2015 he had 3 legit receivers and a decent OL for the first time, and he threw for 30 TD's.

He's never going to get hired to run the show anymore, so why not take short money to see what it's like to expect to win every week and compete for a championship. Besides where else can you make a couple of million dollars for holding a clip board in a city that you are familiar with.

If they trade G, likely they need another QB anyhow. And if Brady is unavailable, I agree Fitz would very likely be a better "game manager" than Brisset at his current stage of development. Fitz would have better coaching, better players around him and a better game plan than he has had in the past.

One thing always increases as you age - the time to recover from injuries. Avocado ice cream or no, the chances of needing a backup QB for a game or two is higher this year than it has been over the last decade (ignoring the suspension last year of course).

This analysis (FWIW) suggest Kaepernick is the best of the current free agents by quite a bit:

Key stats for top free agent QBs still available | PFF

 

[Nitro]

Jimmy Garrapolo was called on to fill in for Brady for four games last season and couldn't make it through 6 quarters, how are they supposed to count on him for any extended period of time when he went out on his first big hit

Brady was called on to start an entire season in 2008 and and couldnt make it through the first quarter of the first game, how are they supposed to count on tom for any extended period of time when he went out not even an hour into the season?

Or, one random injury doesnt make you ras-i dowling? Hrmm

 

[AzPatsFan]

Yo'all haven't been in the market for a backup QB in a while. The going price is north of $10 million a year for somebody good enough to lose with. Look at the present pay for Mcmellan (sp?) and Fitz and that divisive ignorant jerk from Frisco that was cut.