Jimmy Garoppolo trade: Patriots quarterback sent to 49ers for draft pick

The NFL trade deadline is usually uneventful. But not this year! Not too long after the Seahawks and Texans pulled off a major trade on Monday evening, the New England Patriots sent Jimmy Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers for a 2018 second-round pick. Wow!

There was thought Jimmy G was going to be the successor to Tom Brady, but apparently not. The Patriots finally traded him to a team in desperate need for a quarterback.

As always, there are a few Philadelphia Eagles angles to this trade.

1 - It’s fun to think the Eagles beat the 49ers so badly on Sunday that it forced their hand to make a move at quarterback. Philadelphia’s defense absolutely terrorized rookie third-round pick C.J. Beathard.

2 - It was assumed the 49ers would be in play for impending free agent quarterback Kirk Cousins this offseason. You know, the Kyle Shanahan connection and all. Now it looks like that’s not happening. Depending how you feel about Kirk Cousins, this is either good or bad news. The feeling here is it would’ve been nice for the 49ers to be in the running for Cousins because it would’ve driven his price up for Washington to keep him. Or maybe Cousins would’ve just left the NFC East to play for the 49ers. I suppose Cousins will still have a number of suitors this offseason (Broncos, Jets, Cardinals, Jaguars, Browns, etc.) and he still has a lot of leverage. Here’s hoping Washington has to give him a ton of money so that it makes it even harder to build a team around him.

3 - The Giants have a better chance at finding an Eli Manning successor in the 2018 NFL Draft. The 49ers are currently set to pick ahead of the Giants. They might pass on a quarterback now which means one could more easily fall to New York. Not great. Alternatively, the Jimmy G trade opens up the possibility of the 49ers selecting Penn State running back Saquon Barkley. So at least he might not end up on the Giants.

4 - As Jimmy Kempski reminds us, the Eagles got a first round pick AND a fourth round pick for Sam Bradford. Sam Bradford! Imagine giving up a first and a fourth for Bradford instead of a second for Garoppolo.

With this year’s deadline being so wild, maybe the Eagles will get in on the action next. Stay tuned!