Jimmy Garoppolo: NBC Sports mock draft predicts Patriots trade for 49ers QB

There’s no shortage of speculation surrounding 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, and one NBC Sports mock draft has the Patriots as a trade partner.

The San Francisco 49ers essentially have one of four different options with their embattled quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, heading into 2021.

The Niners can retain him and give Jimmy G full confidence as their starter this season. They could cut him in a cap-saving move that would free up $24.1 million in much-needed cap space. San Francisco could also hold onto Garoppolo but grab his would-be long-term replacement early in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Or the 49ers could trade Garoppolo. That’s an option, too, and it would also net that same $24-plus million of cap space.

Garoppolo would have to waive his no-trade clause, yes. And another team would either have to be willing to take on his current contract or be in a position to restructure a new deal once traded.

But assuming a trade is the first step, and that’s what NBC Sports Boston’s Phil Perry speculated would happen in his most recent mock draft:

"For this mock draft that trade between the Lions and Rams will of course weigh heavily on the results. But let’s also presume that Deshaun Watson is dealt — not to the Patriots. And let’s presume that, with options dwindling, the Patriots end up with the quarterback option that feels inevitable for them.In this exercise, we have the Patriots trading their second-rounder to the San Francisco 49ers for Jimmy Garoppolo. (The Niners, for their part, dealt a package of future picks to the Vikings for Kirk Cousins.) And we also have Bill Belichick signing one of the receivers in this year’s deep free agent class."

Let’s unwrap this a bit.

The New England Patriots have long been considered a favorite if and when Garoppolo winds up departing San Francisco. Before the quarterback was traded to the 49ers at the 2017 trade deadline, Pats head coach Bill Belichick reportedly envisioned Jimmy G as the heir apparent for quarterback Tom Brady, but Brady and Patriots owner Robert Kraft rebuffed Belichick’s plans and coerced him into making the trade with the Niners.

With Brady now gone to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Patriots looking for a long-term option under center, it makes more than enough sense why Garoppolo’s name would come up.

And San Francisco winds up getting a second-round pick, the same round used during the initial 2017 trade.

Why would 49ers replace Jimmy Garoppolo with Kirk Cousins?

The other element on which to chew is the 49ers using what Perry called a “package of future picks” in order to execute a trade with the Minnesota Vikings for their starting quarterback, Kirk Cousins.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan’s affinity with Cousins is well known, stemming from the two’s work together with the Washington Football Team in the early 2010s. According to multiple reports, Shanahan’s initial plan before the Niners acquired Garoppolo was to land Cousins as a free agent in 2018.

But the bigger roadblock is Cousins’ $30-plus million cap hit for 2021. Even if one views Cousins as an upgrade over Jimmy G, and that might be pushing the term, the financial elements don’t make much sense without San Francisco having to engineer some serious roster jockeying to create cap space.

So that aspect seems a little far-fetched.

Perry still, however, suggests the 49ers wouldn’t give up their current top draft pick, No. 12 overall, in that would-be Cousins deal, instead landing Florida tight end Kyle Pitts and pairing him with the Niners’ current All-Pro tight end, George Kittle:

"Now this is scary. Remember, the Niners already got their quarterback in Kirk Cousins in this scenario. That’s Kyle Shanahan’s guy. Now picture Shanahan devising schemes with two dynamic receivers (Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel), two dynamic tight ends (George Kittle, Pitts) and a fullback like Kyle Juszczyk at his disposal. Mismatches galore."

Maybe Perry forgot Kyle Juszczyk is a free agent likely too expensive for San Francisco to re-sign.

Either way, it’s an interesting scenario for Jimmy Garoppolo, the 49ers and what could happen in the NFL Draft, and there are likely to be plenty more between now and late April.