5 teams who could trade for Jimmy Garoppolo in the offseason

1. New England Patriots

If you believe what was out there at the time, if Bill Belichick had his way Garoppolo would never have been traded. Tom Brady may have gone all the way up to owner/his football father Robert Kraft to demand Garoppolo was moved with his plan to play awhile longer, and he got his wish. The root of any tension between Belichick and Brady probably started there.

The Patriots took a calculated flier on Cam Newton in late June, but he looks like a shell of his peak form again with a dismal set of receivers around him. At 2-5 and headed toward a high draft pick next April, the Patriots may have one eye on a wide reset in 2021.

New England is in great position salary cap-wise for next year ($65.227 million right now). So they will be able to overturn a big chunk of the roster, and look like a new squad ready to win again in 2021.

Maybe Belichick will stump internally, on his own unique way as the man leading the decision-making, to make a move for a quarterback he never wanted to trade as Brady went over his head. Garoppolo going back to the Patriots is almost too easily speculated about right now. But it’s hardly out of the question, even if New England is in position to take one of the top quarterback prospects in the 2021 draft.