Bill never letting Jimmy G join Gang
THE ONLY THING more annoying than watching a 40-year-old Zoolander carve up your team is knowing that his 25-year-old pretty-boy understudy will one day do the same. In case you’ve taken up residence in a cave for the past two decades, you already know that Tom Brady has been a royal pain in the posterior for the Jets. His handsome handiwork has permanently scarred a frustrated fan base. Hell, this disgustingly perfect signal caller even had the Jets general manager wondering aloud about voodoo dolls this offseason.
Alas, there is only one opponent who will ultimately topple TB12: Father Time.
You know it. I know it. Bill Belichick knows it. Thus, the buzzkill: Jimmy Garoppolo isn’t going anywhere. And he sure as hell isn’t going to be wearing green-and-white.
Some tortured Jets fans downplaying the need to Suck for Sam (or anyone else) due to free-agent quarterback options hoped/prayed that Jimmy G might be the elixir for their decades-long signal caller sadness.
What better way to kill two birds with one stone than by snatching a promising young quarterback away from The Evil Empire? It was enough to make some Gang Green diehards downright giddy. None of the optimism, of course, was grounded in reality.
Repeat after me: Jimmy Garoppolo will never, ever, ever be a New York Jet.
It’s not happening, folks. Not today, tomorrow, the next day, the next month or the next year. Never. As in, rhymes with ever. Belichick has rich people problems. Oh, what should I do with my two great quarterbacks? Ugh. It’s so irritating, isn’t it? The Patriots must make a decision on Garoppolo, who is making peanuts in the final year of his four-year rookie contract, in the coming months. The strategically smart choice for Belichick & Co. would be to sign the young quarterback to a team-friendly extension during the season, but there’s no real motivation for the player to ink a below-market deal given what he would command in free agency in 2018. A solid case can be made that nearly a third of the NFL would want Garoppolo.
Belichick evidently turned down multiple offers for his most valuable asset last offseason.
Brady might seem like Benjamin Button, but let’s get real. Strip away all the romanticizing about the power of avocado, kale and innovative “sleep wear” and here’s what’s left: A 40-year-old man in a collision sport played by much younger oversized humans.
Make no mistake: Brady is still producing at a ridiculously high rate (a leaguehigh 340 passing yards per game and career-high 8.7 yards per attempt), but he’s taken way too much pounding. Brady has absorbed 32 hits. He’s been sacked more times (16) in the first five games than he was in 12 regular-season games (15) last year.
“Tom is as physically and mentally tough as any player I’ve coached,” Belichick said Wednesday. “No doubt about that.”
Brady, who is scheduled to count $22 million against New England’s 2018 and 2019 salary caps, didn’t practice Tuesday and Wednesday due to an AC joint sprain in his non-throwing shoulder. He’s expected to play against the Jets this weekend, but those are warning signs that Belichick isn’t foolish enough to ignore. Garoppolo is the future, not Brady.
Barring a fair contract extension before season’s end, the Patriots will almost certainly apply the franchise tag on Garoppolo this offseason for around $24 million. Although it’s unconventional to devote more than $45 million in cap space to two QBs, Belichick fully grasps the power of great quarterback play. A real quarterback can mask deficiencies in other areas of your team. That’s priceless.
Belichick could tag-and-trade Garoppolo like he did with Matt Cassel in 2009, but circumstances are much different now. Brady, coming off a lost season with an ACL injury, was in his prime at the time. Brady is now in the twilight.
Garoppolo, despite only having two starts, is also regarded as a better player than Cassel. If, by some miracle, Belichick chose to tag and trade Garoppolo, he’d never move him to the team he despises the most.
So, the Jets will have to find other avenues to solve their most maddening problem. The ideal scenario will be to grab one of the prized college signal callers in what is expected to be a top-shelf quarterback draft. If the Jets keep winning, that could come at a steep price though. Would Mike Maccagnan give up multiple future premium picks to move up in the draft to get Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, Josh Allen et al?
The limited free-agent options come with a litany of fair questions. Would the Jets be wise to pony up a $100-plus million contract for Kirk Cousins, who will turn 30 this summer? ould it make sense to give Teddy Bridgewater, who hasn’t played in 14 months and counting after suffering a grievous knee injury in practice, a shot?
The Jets have had 30 starting quarterbacks since Joe Namath took his last snap in 1976. Garoppolo, who will turn 26 next month, would have been the perfect solution for the non-tanking crowd that believes the draft is a crapshoot. He’s learned from the best of the best. He’s flashed brilliance.
Alas, the Hoodie will never let happen.
Wit