Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune suggests in this article that the Bears might consider trading for Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garappolo next year. Its widely believed that the first four games, which Garappolo will start in place of the suspended Tom Brady, will be a showcase for a trade in the offseason.
A couple thoughts on this matter.
First, I’m not entirely sure that the Patriots won’t want to hold on to Garapollo as long as possible. Garappolo is signed through 2017 and Brady will be 40 when that season starts. If you are going to trade Garappolo, you’d better have a plan in place to replace Brady at any point. Father time is undefeated and he can win the battle rather quickly. If Brady falls apart in 2017 you don’t want to be caught out.
Having said that, yes, if you are going to trade him, next season is the time to do it for Garappolo. Keeping him would mean you’ve decided to let him test free agency and, absence a guarantee that he’d be starting for the Patriots, they’d almost certainly lose him.
Second, I’m somewhat disturbed by some of the subtle indications in this article that the Bears offense may be in serious trouble this year. The sense of unease is almost palpable in this article and it confirms my own suspicion that there may be a lot of problems on the horizon. The digs are subtle and no one is stating anything definitive. But the suggestions that the Bears could be be deficient from the top down are undeniable.
“[A possible explanation for the poor offensive performance against the Broncos] could be that the offense, from top to bottom, wasn’t properly prepared in Bourbonnais under first-year coordinator Dowell Loggains. If that’s the case, the regular season will come in a hurry.”
“It would be hard to say that the Bears offense won the day Monday. Patriots linebacker Jamie Collins dropped [quarterback Jay] Cutler‘s second pass in 7-on-7 drills and mishandled another sure pick in 11-on-11 work, and cornerback Justin Coleman dropped a ball Cutler threw directly to him during the two-minute drill. Cutler seemed to double clutch at times, likely a result of solid coverage.”
“While watching practice, the greatest discrepancy between the two rosters was at quarterback. Yes, you could say that about the Patriots against a lot of organizations. In this case, former Tom Brady backup Brian Hoyer is the presumed No. 2 for the Bears. Eastern Illinois rookie Kamu Grugier-Hill picked off Hoyer on the first snap in a two-minute drill.”
There’s a long way to go yet until the regular season and I have a lot of confidence in veteran head coach John Fox to handle things. But having said that the statements above are not the comments of someone who is seeing signs of a competitive offensive team. You can talk about deficient protection all you want but no one is hitting the quarterbacks in practice. And if your troubles are at offensive coordinator and quarterback, there isn’t much hope that Bears fans are going to see a lot of looked for improvement in the offense this year.