Patriots trading for Jimmy Garoppolo rumors refuse to go away

Even though reports say the San Francisco 49ers have no desire to trade Jimmy Garoppolo, the New England Patriots rumors continue to persist.

The San Francisco 49ers made the first huge move in the NFL Draft. On Friday, the 49ers surrendered massive draft capital to the Miami Dolphins to move up from the 12th overall pick to the third overall pick. That transaction proves that the 49ers are in the market for one of the top quarterback prospects not named Trevor Lawrence in this year’s draft class.

With this, you would expect the 49ers to try and move starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. That is not the case, as the team has told reporters ad nauseam that they have no intentions of trading Garoppolo and plan to keep him for the 2021 season.

Despite all of that, the rumors linking Garoppolo to his former team in the New England Patriots continue to persist.

Jimmy Garoppolo to New England rumors continue to swirl despite reports stressing the contrary

Prior to the start of the 2021 league year, reports indicated that the Patriots had Garoppolo as their top quarterback target. But just like now, the 49ers stressed to the Patriots that they were not moving Garoppolo. The Pats then pivoted to re-signing Cam Newton to a one-year contract while giving him a new supporting cast consisting of Jonnu Smith, Nelson Agholor, Hunter Henry and Kendrick Bourne in free agency.

A reunion in New England could further be rendered obsolete if one of Mac Jones, Trey Lance or Justin Fields fall to the Patriots with the 15th overall selection and head coach Bill Belichick finally decides to select a signal caller in the first round. That is a huge if, because there is speculation that Jones or Lance could be the 49ers’ pick, and there is virtually no guarantee that any of the top five quarterback prospects make it out of the top 10.

If the Patriots do not end up with a rookie quarterback next month, Garoppolo could end up in New England in 2022, but that is if Newton fails to impress this upcoming season. Of course, that will also be contingent on 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan pivoting to their new young quarterback next year. In fact, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport notes that the 49ers could opt to trade Garoppolo next offseason if he were to impress throughout the 2021 campaign.

Sure, the 49ers appear to be adamant in keeping Garoppolo based off the reports, but let’s not forget that things can always change. Back in 2019, New York Giants general manager Dave Gettleman said he did not sign wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to a contract extension just to trade him. Less than a month later, Gettleman traded Beckham to the Cleveland Browns.

Things can always change, unless they don’t. The same goes for Garoppolo, who could be on the 49ers in 2021 … unless he’s not.