The NFL draft is now all finished up and while a number of trade rumors involving names like Kirk Cousins, Ryan Mallett, Mike Glennon and Christian Ponder came up, their teams in the Washington Redskins, New England Patriots, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Minnesota Vikings opted to not pull the trigger and while trades could happen down the line, the future is uncertain and now second round pick Jimmy Garoppolo could be the replacement for Tom Brady.
A number of teams made big moves for quarterbacks in the draft this year, including the Cleveland Browns with Johnny Manziel and the Minnesota Vikings with Teddy Bridgewater. The Jaguars picked Blake Bortles, but they weren't really in the mix for any of the quarterback trade rumors heading into the draft. Kirk Cousins was the name mentioned most ahead of Ryan Mallett, as the Redskins did not have a first round pick and many thought they would try to move him to get back something extra to make up for it since they signed Colt McCoy in the offseason.
The Redskins opted not to trade Cousins and while that could happen in the future, it's unlikely since they turned down a solid fourth round pick for him from the Cleveland Browns. Clearly they are fine with the decision they made with Johnny football, but there was some interest there initially. NFL.com and ESPN.com reported on the proposed deal and it's still possible that the team could deal Cousins down the line in the offseason if they get a deal they like. Ponder fits into the same mold, but his future in Minnesota is likely done with Matt Cassel already there and the team drafting Bridgewater.
The Patriots made a big move with Garoppolo and even if they don't plan on trading Ryan Mallett at any point, they now have a legitimate backup and a potential future starter for Tom Brady. Bill Belichick must have seem something special in Garoppolo, because he treats draft picks with respect and values them immensely and using one that high on a QB means that Garoppolo is expected to stick around for a while and he will also be expected to contribute. Brady is still playing at a very high level, but he is getting older and this move also is some insurance for the team if Brady goers down with an injury.
The quarterback is nearly 37 years old now and while he has been able to avoid more serious injuries over the years, he did have that knee back when Matt Cassel had to take over for the season and this sets up the team for a situation like that as well. Belichick has spoken highly of Mallett as the backup for Brady over the past few years and even if the team doesn't trade him, they are setting for the future since this is the last year of his deal. Garoppolo has great size at 6-foot-3, 222-pounds and while that's not perfect, he has the stats to back it up after putting up 5,050 yards and 53 touchdowns with nine interceptions in 2013 for Eastern Illinois, home of Tony Romo.
