When assessing the various possible outcomes to the Tom Brady/Jimmy Garoppolo conundrum, one consists of Garoppolo signing a short-term extension to keep him with the Patriots while the Patriots and Garoppolo wait for Brady to walk away. So would Garoppolo do that?
“You know, I entertain any possibility,” Garoppolo told reporters at the team’s mandatory minicamp on Tuesday. “I don’t know, like I said, I’m not really thinking about too much right now. There’s just so much going on with OTAs and training camp is right around the corner. That’s where my focus is. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there, I guess.”
If there’s going to be a bridge to be crossed, it needs to come fairly soon. With each passing day, Garoppolo gets closer to free agency or the franchise tag. And since Garoppolo isn’t the starter, his injury risk is lower than it would be if he were actually playing.
So, basically, Garoppolo holds all the cards. Although his agent, Don Yee, has a history of underplaying his hand when it comes to Tom Brady’s contracts, those decisions have been made by the client not the agent. As a result, some believe Yee will try to turn the tables with Garoppolo.
The question becomes whether Garoppolo will go along with that, or whether he’ll insist on doing things his way, the way that Brady consistently has.