Tuesday’s Trade Deadline

Give the NFL a day when there’s no World Series action and it fills the void. Woo-hoo!

With Tuesday’s trade deadline approaching (and the sixth game of the World Series as well), the New England Patriots traded backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers for a second-round pick.

Interesting, to say the least. For one, the Patriots had previously traded their other backup, Jacoby Brissett, to the Indianapolis Colts. They have (as of this typing) no one behind 40-year-old Tom Brady.

The 49ers immediately waived Brian Hoyer, who, presumably will wind up in New England as said backup. But wait, there’s more …
The Cleveland Browns, as bereft of a quarterback as they ever were and continue to be, watched this opportunity go by and coach Hue Jackson (1-23 over two seasons) is letting it be known he wanted the team – which failed to make a move over the last two years to get either Carson Wentz or Deshaun Watson in the draft– to chase Garoppolo, who has played in two games during a four-year NFL career.

And the 49ers, who were widely expected to pursue the Washington Redskins’ Kirk Cousins come the offseason, now would presumably have no interest. Which means the Redskins either commit to Cousins or move on, putting a decent starter on the market as a free agent (which almost never happens).

Much of this was discussed during a mundane Monday night game in which the Kansas City Chiefs kicked five field goals (snore) to beat the Denver Broncos 29-19. The Broncos are clearly lost with Trevor Siemian at quarterback and have behind him the injured Paxton Lynch (a No. 1 pick) and Brock Osweiler, whom they had traded to the Houston Texans, with whom he flopped. Osweiler was then traded to the Browns, with whom he flopped, and brought back to Denver, where he’d actually had a little success. He’s the No. 3 after being heir to Peyton Manning.

The Texans, sick of endless changes at QB, boldly traded up in the draft got Watson and now have one of the league’s developing gems.

Moral: If you haven’t got a quarterback, you haven’t got a chance. There may be no price too high to pay to get the right guy, and there are never any assurances.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman