49ers rumors: 3 likely trading spots for Jimmy Garoppolo during NFL Draft

49ers Trade Partner No. 3: New England Patriots

Out of all the teams likely hunting for Jimmy G’s services, the New England Patriots have been the most connected. And despite some die-down in the offseason smoke surrounding these rumors and speculation, NBC Sports’ Peter King reopened that Pandora’s Box in his Football Morning in America column from last Monday, which both speculated San Francisco would potentially settle on moving Garoppolo for a second-round pick and linked the Pats back to the quarterback once more:

"It won’t surprise me if the Niners make Jimmy Garoppolo more available than he’s been. In other words, instead of trying to get a first-round pick for him, maybe considering taking a two for him. I wonder if the Patriots would deal the 46th pick in the draft, or their second-rounder in 2022, for their old friend."

A couple of things regarding this.

King’s words, “it wouldn’t surprise me,” aren’t a report from a source or anything like that. It’s speculation. The 49ers moving Garoppolo to the Patriots, reuniting him with his former head coach, Bill Belichick, probably wouldn’t surprise a lot of people.

The other known element is New England would somehow have to absorb Garoppolo’s $23.6 million owed post-trade, according to Over the Cap. With just over $16 million in cap space, the Patriots would either have to engineer some other roster moves or restructure Garoppolo’s contract somehow, making a trade anything but automatic.

Lastly, the Pats are also reportedly high on one of the quarterbacks the Niners could target in the NFL Draft, Ohio State’s Justin Fields, adding yet another pre-draft wrinkle into the mix.

Are the Niners being coy about their interest in Fields, only to take him and then dangle Garoppolo to New England? Perhaps. Only Kyle Shanahan would know for sure.

But still, the Patriots have to be on the list of possible Garoppolo suitors on draft day until the picks are made in Round 1.