Former Browns and New England Patriots executive Mike Lombardi believes the two teams will likely agree to a trade in the offseason to send quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to Cleveland.
“The next quarterback that’ll be the Cleveland Browns’ quarterback perhaps is Jimmy Garoppolo in New England,” Lombardi, a Fox Sports analyst, said Thursday on FS1’s Speak for Yourself. “I think Cleveland understands, [coach] Hue Jackson specifically understands he needs a quarterback. I think they’ll be very aggressive. I think Jimmy Garoppolo’s on top of their list, and I think they’ll go hard after him.”
It remains to be seen whether a deal is realistic, but there are reasons to think it would be.
Garoppolo, the backup of legendary quarterback Tom Brady, is scheduled to enter the final year of his rookie contract in 2017.
“I’m sure the [Chicago] Bears are going to make a phone call,” said Lombardi, general manager of the Browns in 2013 and assistant to the coaching staff of the Patriots from 2014-15. “There’s a lot of teams that are going to come after Garoppolo because there’s not a lot of quarterbacks. Mike Glennon from Tampa Bay will be available as a free agent [in March].”
The Browns have stockpiled picks in next year’s draft and own two in the first round and another two in the second round. Draft gurus are already calling the quarterback class weak, so perhaps Garoppolo would appeal more to quarterback-needy teams. North Carolina’s Mitch Trubisky, a Mentor native, Clemson’s Deshaun Watson and Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer are the top college quarterbacks.
“I think the Patriots will decide whether [to trade Garoppolo] based on the deal they’re offered,” Lombardi said, “and Cleveland has enough assets to entice them.”
Garoppolo, 25, has a career record of 2-0 as a starter with both of his starts coming this season when Brady served a four-game suspension for Deflategate. Garoppolo threw three touchdown passes before being knocked out of his second start Sept. 18 against the Miami Dolphins with a sprained AC joint suffered in his right shoulder during the second quarter.
A second-round draft pick in 2014 out of Eastern Illinois, Garoppolo has appeared in four games this season and completed 42-of-60 passes (70 percent) for 496 yards and four touchdowns without an interception, posting a passer rating of 117.1. In 15 career games, he has completed 62-of-91 passes (68.1 percent) for 684 yards and five touchdowns without an interception and a rating of 108.5.
The Browns’ new regime has already made two trades with the Patriots. In August, Browns head of football operations Sashi Brown sent outside linebacker Barkevious Mingo to the Patriots in exchange for a fifth-round pick next year. In October, Brown traded what’s expected to be a 2017 third-round compensatory pick to the Patriots for Pro Bowl linebacker Jamie Collins.
“[The Browns are] going to have to use those draft picks on a player, and if you can get a starting quarterback who can play in cold weather, who can do a lot of things that Hue Jackson likes to do, I mean do you want to give up all your assets or do you want to go after AJ McCarron who was [Jackson’s] backup [quarterback] in Cincinnati?” Lombardi said. “I think you’re better off going after Garoppolo and get the better player.”
McCarron is also under contract through the 2017 season.
Speak for Yourself contributor Jason McIntyre asked Lombardi how he knows Garoppolo would be better than other backups like Matt Flynn and Matt Cassel, considering the small sample size.
“Evaluation. That’s what you get paid to do — evaluate,” Lombardi said. “He’s clearly not Matt Flynn, and he’s clearly not AJ McCarron. He’s a better player than that. I’m just promising you that.”
As for Robert Griffin III, who’ll return from a fractured left shoulder and start for the Browns (0-12) against the visiting Cincinnati Bengals (4-7-1) on Sunday, Lombardi gives him no chance to be become the franchise’s quarterback of the future.
“RG3, I would say the chances of you resurrecting your career in Cleveland this year are about zero, and that would be the high end of it,” Lombardi said.
“I think RG3 has seen better days. I think it’s going to be difficult for him to prove to anybody in the final four games.”
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.