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How much should Chicago Bears pay for Jimmy Garoppolo?

By Bill Zimmerman

Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jimmy Garoppolo shined in week one for the New England Patriots. Should Ryan Pace pay a hefty price for the young quarterback?

Before I begin, let me say, this article is not about bashing Jay Cutler. Jay Cutler is a good NFL quarterback. He has gotten a bad wrap for several years in Chicago, and most of it is unfair. He’s done the best with what has mostly been a rag-tag group. Yes, he has his deficits. Most notably, his knack to turn the ball over at the most inconvenient times. That deficit and others have improved over the last couple years and that trend will hopefully continue.

This article isn’t about getting rid of Cutler, it’s an examination about the direction the Chicago Bears are headed. The Bears are not a win-now team. They are building for the future. They are not going to win a Super Bowl in 2016. Unless they take major strides they are not winning a Super Bowl in 2017 either. If 2018 is the earliest this team will be competing for a Super Bowl, should they be doing it on the arm of a quarterback who will be 35 that season? Not only will Cutler be 35, but he will be an old 35. Let’s be fair, Cutler has spent most of the last decade on his back. Porous offensive lines have allowed Cutler to be drilled time and time again. That type of beating doesn’t lend well to players being able to perform well into their late thirties.

Sep 11, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler (6) is sacked by Houston Texans cornerback A.J. Bouye (21) during the fourth quarter at NRG Stadium. The Texans won 23-14. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 11, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler (6) is sacked by Houston Texans cornerback A.J. Bouye (21) during the fourth quarter at NRG Stadium. The Texans won 23-14. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /

Unfortunately for the Bears, if Cutler’s body starts breaking down within the next couple years, they don’t have a quarterback they can fall back on. Football fans have seen enough of Brian Hoyer to know that he is’t going to be leading a team to a Super Bowl championship any time soon.

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    • Obviously, Ryan Pace could go to the draft and select a quarterback of the future. But there is a lot of risk in that. Plenty of high-end rookie quarterbacks don’t pan out. If Pace’s selection doesn’t become a quality NFL QB, it’s going to set the Bears rebuilding plan back years. But Pace could have the option to go another route. That route is New England Patriots’ quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.

    Garappolo had a tremendous game against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday night and appears ready to be given the opportunity to be an every-week starting quarterback at the NFL level. Even if Garappolo continues to play like this, it won’t matter for the rest of this season. Tom Brady is the quarterback of the Patriots. Bill Belichick hasn’t wavered on that stance and nor should he.

    Garoppolo is a free agent after the 2017 season. If he plays well over the next three games, the Patriots are going to have an opportunity to ask for a king’s ransom for their backup quarterback. There is a chance that the Patriots could choose to keep both quarterbacks and have Garoppolo as the QB in-waiting, but Brady has showed no signs of slowing down, nor has he given any indication that, despite being 39, he has any plans to retire any time soon. Having the QB in waiting behind the current star is always a tricky situation for a team to maneuver.

    The Denver Broncos tried it with Tommy Maddox when they had John Elway and Elway ended up playing six more years and won the franchise two Super Bowls. The San Francisco 49ers did it “successfully” with Joe Montana and Steve Young, but the two QBs hated each other and the Niners eventually sent the greatest QB in NFL history to the Kansas City Chiefs.

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    Should the Patriots try and do the same with Brady and Garoppolo? It will be a complicated situation to handle internally, not to mention, a complicated situation to handle with the salary cap. Brady has been very generous with his low salaries with the Patriots, but to keep them both, you would almost have to pay Garoppolo more than Brady to be Brady’s back-up until he’s ready to retire.

    Odds are the Patriots are going to shop Garoppolo this offseason and see what kind of return they can get on the young quarterback. If they do, Pace and the Bears will certainly give the Patriots a call. Pace has shown no fear in dealing with Belichick. They’ve traded Jon Bostic and Martellus Bennett to New England, and signed former Pat Akiem Hicks.

    Garoppolo would be a nice fit for Chicago and it’s a team he would definitely consider. He is from Arlington Heights, IL, and went to local Rolling Meadows High School. He spent his college years at Eastern Illinois before New England drafted him in the second round of the 2014 draft. Pace was seen chatting with Garoppolo during the Bears- Patriots joint practices in August.

    Before you even consider making this trade, keep in mind what this would cost the Bears. The Minnesota Vikings traded a first and fourth round pick for Sam Bradford. The Vikings were desperate, but in doing so, they set the market for what a viable starting quarterback currently costs. The Patriots would almost certainly ask for not one, but a minimum of two first round selections. There is a good chance Chicago would also have to part with one or two middle round selections in addition.

    That is a lot to give up on a quarterback that will have started four games at the NFL level. At the same time, if you like what you see out of Garoppolo and are confident he can quarterback your team for the next decade at a high level, isn’t the price a no brainer?

    Regardless of the decision, Ryan Pace has an important choice forthcoming. Do they invest future draft picks into Jimmy Garoppolo this offseason or do they invest potentially a first round pick on a quarterback in 2018? It doesn’t matter what type of talent Pace can amass on defense or at the offensive skill positions, if he doesn’t have a capable quarterback calling plays, none of it will matter.

    Will Garoppolo be in a Bears uniform in 2017? That is still trending towards doubtful, but it’s certainly not impossible. And it’s definitely a possibility that Ryan Pace has been weighing at Halas Hall.

    Bill Zimmerman is an editor and featured writer for FanSided‘s BearGogglesOn. Like his Facebook page or follow him on Twitter for more news and interaction.

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