Much to the dismay of New England Patriots fans everywhere, but Tom Brady will not play forever. This is hard is hard to think about, but eventually the Patriots will have to play without the quarterback and have started to think about grooming his replacement sooner rather than later. With Ryan Mallett possibly up for grabs, the Patriots drafted Jimmy Garoppolo over the weekend, but the rookie denies that he is the future heir to the Brady throne.
The Patriots surprised many when they used their second-round draft pick on a quarterback. In need of a pass rusher and wide receiver, New England decided that Garoppolo was worth the early pick, leaving many to go ahead and anoint him the next Brady of Foxboro. The rookie is downplaying any idea that he is the future of the franchise, insisting he is here to just learn and get better.
"I haven't thought about it too much, to be honest," Garoppolo told CSN New England. "My main thing is, I'm a rookie. I haven't earned any stripes. I haven't done anything on the field. We had our first practice yesterday just the rookies. I still have a long way to go with that just to begin with."
Garoppolo is right to avoid any sort of verbal landmines when it comes to Brady. Right now he is the franchise star and will be for many years. But, the Patriots traditionally only carry two or three quarterbacks on their roster for a reason and either Garoppolo or Mallett will be groomed for the future.
It is right to assume that Garoppolo's arrival affect's the status of Mallett. There continue to be reports about a potential trade coming of the current backup to Brady. On Tuesday, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that the Patriots and the Houston Texans are still in negotiations about a potential deal. If something is going to happen, Rapoport believes May 27 would be the deadline since that is the first day the teams will report for organized team activities. Over the past few seasons, the Patriots have only carried two quarterbacks on their roster. This makes the idea that Mallett might get traded even more realistic.
Meanwhile, Garoppolo is just concerned about learning from both quarterbacks. He referred to Brady and Mallett as his future mentors and is eager to get into practice with them.
"Just the way Tom has poise in the pocket, the way he throws the ball, it's pretty picture perfect, if you ask me," Garoppolo said, via WEEI-FM. "Just to learn as much as I can from him and Ryan from a short period of time."
