Princewill Pius
On Oct. 31, 2017, the Patriots traded Tom Brady‘s backup, Jimmy Garoppolo (above right) to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for the 49ers’ second-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft (via ESPN). The problem? Head coach Bill Belichick reportedly didn’t want to pull the trigger on this trade and wanted Garoppolo to be his quarterback of the future.
According to a separate ESPN report, “The Patriots repeatedly offered Garoppolo four-year contract extensions, in the $17 million to $18 million range” and promised to “go higher” once Brady retired. Garoppolo refused since he wanted to be a starter, but Belichick was unable to promise a timetable for that to happen. The report then describes a fateful and contentious meeting before that year’s trade deadline between Belichick and Patriots CEO Robert Kraft that lasted “half the day.” Belichick reportedly walked out “furious and demoralized” after Kraft laid down the law: trade Garoppolo, and then “find the best quarterback in the draft and develop him.” In other words: Brady’s job was safe — at least from Garoppolo.
After the trade was completed, Brady was reportedly “liberated,” however, an internal power struggle within the organization — with Belichick on one side and Brady and Kraft on the other — was now public. “He won,” a Patriots staffer said of Brady. A meeting between the three men was scheduled to “clear the air,” but according to the report, “it never happened.”
Written by: Nicki
