Patriots backup Jimmy Garoppolo has started a grand total of two games in his three-year NFL career but if a quarterback-needy team is interested in his services this offseason, the price will be steep.
Appearing on WEEI, ESPN's Adam Schefter says the conversation begins with a first- and fourth-round pick for the former second-rounder, who still has one year left on his rookie deal.
If those numbers sound familiar they should: A first and a fourth is what the Eagles got from the Vikings in the Sam Bradford trade. It's also what the Patriots lost in the silly Deflategate ruling that also saw Tom Brady suspended for the first month of the season.
Either way, that's a steep price for an unproven player.
I would give a high two for Jimmy Garoppolo and maybe a five. A two and a five is fair.
— Pete Prisco (@PriscoCBS) December 28, 2016
But we're also talking about Bill Belichick, who once traded Matt Cassel (and veteran linebacker Mike Vrabel) to the Chiefs for the 34th overall pick. That was in February 2009, after Cassel had started 15 games for the Patriots -- in place of an injured Brady -- and helped the Pats to 11 wins.
Of course, that team had Randy Moss and Wes Welker, and had gone 18-1 the season before while setting any number of offensive records. But the Chiefs were desperate to find a franchise quarterback, and on paper, Cassel checked all the boxes.
And that's the takeaway: Desperate teams do desperate things. Look no further than the Texans, who gave Brock Osweiler a four-year, $72 million deal. Osweiler, of course, played so poorly through the first 14 games of his Houston career that coach Bill O'Brien had no choice but to bench him.
You might think that Osweiler would be a cautionary tale, and perhaps it will be for some organizations, but as the old saying goes, it only takes one.
In related news: Cassel lasted four seasons in Kansas City, where the Chiefs had one winning season and he had a 19-28 record.
