Report: Patriots not willing to deal Jimmy Garoppolo

Looks like Jimmy Garoppolo isn’t leaving New England this season.

The quarterback carousel has seemed to die down after ex-Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo opted for retirement instead of continuing his playing career. There’s still one domino left to fall that includes the young stud quarterback of the New England Patriots Jimmy Garoppolo.

There have been trade rumors swirling about the Patriots’ second-round pick of the 2014 NFL Draft that had him winding up either with the Chicago Bears, the Houston Texans, or the Cleveland Browns.

While the Bears opted to sign free agent quarterback Mike Glennon at the start of free agency, the Texans and Browns are still left searching for an upgrade at the quarterback position.

That upgrade doesn’t seem like it’ll be coming from the Patriots.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport is adamant in his reports that the Patriots just don’t want to part with their up-and-coming quarterback and instead wish to have him as premium insurance behind Tom Brady, despite Garoppolo entering the final year of his rookie contract.

"“From my understanding, the Patriots do not want to deal Jimmy Garoppolo,” Rapoport continued. “They really just don’t, whether it’s to the Browns, whether it’s to the Texans. Their stance right now … is they do not want to give up someone who they consider a franchise quarterback for a pick this year.”"

Rapoport also hinted at the potential interest the Texans would have in Garoppolo if he was available to be had in a trade, especially with head coach Bill O’Brien’s ties to the Patriots organization after being a member of the team’s coaching staff from 2007-2011.

"“Of course Bill O’Brien would love to acquire someone as talented as Jimmy Garoppolo,” Rapoport said. “It would make a lot of sense. The system would be the same, the transition would be easy, everything would match up.”"

The Texans traded their starting quarterback this past season Brock Osweiler to the Cleveland Browns at the beginning of the new league year in March. The Browns took on Osweiler and his deal just to acquire a 2018 second-round pick from the Texans for relieving them of his contract a year after signing him to a huge five-year deal worth up to $72 million.

The Browns have no intentions of sticking with Osweiler for the long-term and find themselves in the quarterback market as they seem to every year. They did, however, put themselves in the best position to acquire Garoppolo with eight combined draft selections in the first two rounds of the next two drafts.

The Patriots moved their 2017 first-round pick in exchange for ex-New Orleans Saints wide receiver Brandin Cooks and also sent their 2017 second-round pick to the Carolina Panthers form Kony Ealy, so it’s easy to see the Browns replenishing the Patriots with high draft picks in exchange for Garoppolo.

Rapoport also believes the Browns aren’t done making a run at the former Eastern Illinois star either.

"“The Browns may make a late run at Garoppolo,” Rapoport explained, “but they do not seem to believe there’s any hope there.”"

Next: NFL Mock Draft: Browns finally land their quarterback

With the draft slowly approaching in the next couple weeks, it’ll be interesting to see if the Patriots back off their stance of moving Garoppolo, especially if they fall in love with a draft prospect who’s destined to go in the first-round. At the moment, however, that doesn’t seem like New England’s plans.