The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Report: Pats to keep Garoppolo
Others skeptical team won’t trade backup quarterback
It’s mighty tempting for a team to cash in by trading a solid backup quarterback at a time when there’s a shortage of NFL-caliber talent, but the New England Patriots apparently will not succumb to that urge. Unless they do.
Welcome to the NFL’s silly season.
The Pats will likely hang onto Jimmy Garoppolo, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, rather than trade him for talent at another position or draft picks. “They love Jimmy Garoppolo,” Schefter said and it’s not hard to see why. In Garoppolo, 25, they have a quarterback-in-waiting to replace Tom Brady. The Super Bowl LI MVP will turn 40 in August and, while he had a stellar season and has had only one significant injury over his career, a quarterback is living on borrowed time (and avocado ice cream) after 40.
But others are skeptical that the case is closed. As the Boston Herald’s Jeff Howe put it, “Let’s not pretend the Pats are hanging up the phone when teams call. Still in play. I know the Pats would be happy to keep Garoppolo b/c he’s a [darn] good QB. I believe they’d also be happy if a team met their trade demands.” So . . . it’s anybody’s guess what the Patriots, who also have Jacoby Brissett on the roster, will do and that’s just how they like it. Besides, there’s no rush to make a move and, we should remind you, this is the silly season, when teams like to push up players’ value with reports about their availability.
Taking Garoppolo off the market would be a significant blow with top talent at the position at a premium. The Denver Broncos, San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars are in need of an upgrade at quar-
terback, as are the Houston Texans (despite the expensive presence of Brock Osweiler). And then there are teams who are beginning to think about replacing aging quarterbacks, like the Los Angeles Chargers, New York Giants, Arizona Cardinals, Kansas City Chiefs and New Orleans Saints. (And the Patriots themselves, of course.)
Whatever the Patriots decide to do, the decision will ripple throughout the league.
Salary cap rises
The NFL salary cap for the upcoming season will be $167 million per team, up more than $12 million over last year.
The league and the NFL Players Association compile the cap from specific revenues, and it has risen annually. It was $143.28 million two years ago.
This is the fourth consecutive year the cap has risen at least $10 million.
Player benefits also are included under the 10-year labor agreement reached to end the 2011 lockout. That comes to $37 million per team, bringing the players’ total compensation package to over $200 million per club for the first time.
In comparison, baseball had 12 teams with luxurytax payrolls beyond $167 million in 2016.
Since 2011, the cap has increased by $47 million.
Also, 2017 is the first year of a four-season minimum spending period of 89 percent per club and 95 percent leaguewide.
The added cap room should have a major impact on teams’ spending when the NFL’s new year begins next Thursday.
Steelers sign Harrison
James Harrison is returning to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The five-time Pro Bowl linebacker has signed a two-year contract with the team that will keep Harrison in black and gold past his 40th birthday.
Harrison led the Steelers with five sacks in 2016. He became the franchise’s alltime sack leader last season when he broke Jason Gildon’s club record. Harrison now has 79 1-2 sacks in 13 years with the team.
The signing gives Pittsburgh some reassurance as it prepares for free agency. The team is unlikely to re-sign linebacker Jarvis Jones, the player Pittsburgh drafted in 2013 to replace Harrison.