The biggest rumor floating around the NFL Draft was this one: “the New England Patriots are trading Ryan Mallet to the Houston Texans.” This rumor never included any specific stated return for the Patriots, but since the Texans took Jadeveon Clowney with the first overall pick, it has been widely believed that they would attempt to trade for a starting-level QB.
Talk about false advertising- day 2 of the draft ended, and the Patriots and Texans had yet to consummate a trade. But the Patriots had done something the Texans were rumored to do, that is to draft Jimmy Garappolo.
Obviously, the Patriots don’t need a quarterback right now, they have that Tom Brady guy holding down the position for the next year or two. But Mr. Brady will turn 37 before the season starts, so obviously the Pats need to start looking for a long-term replacement for the future Hall of Famer.
Most NFL fans don’t remember the 1990’s, but Bill Belichick started out as a defensive wizard on the staff of Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells. People know Tom Brady as a future fixture in Canton, Ohio, but the truth is that the Patriots won those three Super Bowls on the strength of their defense.
At the risk of being called a blasphemer by my fellow Patriots fans, the intelligent ones know that Belichick is a defensive coach. And though I’m sure he loves Tom Brady, I am also just as sure that he’d love to once again coach a team that has a dominant defense and a versatile, mobile QB.
Belichick is an innovator if nothing else- see the Tim Tebow experiment last year- and I’m sure he’s ecstatic over having a Jimmy Garoppolo lead his team into the 21st century. Garoppolo isn’t Russell Wilson or Colin Kaepernick, but he is an expert at running a shotgun offense, and he does possess a lightning-quick release.
Based on all kinds of media reports, current Patriots’ back-up QB Ryan Mallett is all the way out there on the trading block. If every media outlet in the world is accurate, Mallett will be a Houston Texan soon, and Garappolo will be Tom Brady’s backup.
Don Ellis started covering sports professionally when he was 15. He attended Ball State University, and some of his past credits include InsideHoops (columnist) and ESPN Florida (The Florida Sports Reporters, SportsCenter anchor) . In addition to running Bullsville.net and writing for The Sports Bank and ChicagoNow (Bullsville), he is also a KHSAA baseball umpire. He’s a 3rd-generation Cubs fan, a Bulls fan since the days of Van Lier and Sloan, and a life-long New England Patriots fan. Follow Don on Twitter @Bullsville.
