The Browns made the right call not getting Jimmy Garoppolo

Before the Browns landed Baker Mayfield in the 2018 NFL Draft, the Browns were dead set on getting then-Patriots QB Jimmy Garoppolo.

This column was coming one way or another after the SuperBowl. Why? Let’s go back to the end of 2017. The Browns were in serious conversation with the Patriots to acquire then-quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. The press, the buzz and the hype around “Jimmy G” was so big, that 92.3 FM’s Dustin Fox would gon on daily-tangents about how good Garoppolo was, and how he’s so good that Patriots head coach Bill Belichick doesn’t even want to give him up, as he’s Tom Brady’s heir apparent.

Blah, blah blah. Everyone and their mothers wanted Garoppolo in Cleveland during most of 2017. “He was the answer”, they shouted. All it would’ve cost was Houston’s 2nd round pick, which the Browns had control of. That second-round pick would end up being Nick Chubb. After watching the 49ers be unable to generate much passing offense throughout the playoffs, and 49er head coach Kyle Shanahan relying almost entirely on the run, it’s not hard to assume that had the trade happened it would have been a disaster for the Browns.

Garoppolo is going to be 29 and has only started 25 games in three seasons due to injury since he joined the 49ers.  In the SuperBowl, against a very beatable Chief’s defense, Garoppolo only amassed 219 yards, while turning the ball over twice. This was a team that was clearly built around its defense and the defense couldn’t do their job.

The folks at Get Up are now even throwing out the idea of cutting Garoppolo and signing Tom Brady.

So why today? Well the folks at ESPN and the NFL Network had two of the worst takes I’ve seen in some time. So why not today? Garoppolo might be a great quarterback one day, but even if he is, for how long? How long will those legs hold up?

Baker Mayfield, who the Browns got number one overall in the 2018 NFL Draft may have not been everyone’s first pick. Yet he’s shown in his two years that he’s the better option than Garoppolo. If Mayfield played in that 49ers offense, he’d of been neigh unstoppable. A coach as good as Shannahan? Come on.

Mayfield was the better choice long term, no matter what dingus hot take exists. Mayfield is unquestionably the best quarterback the Browns have had since 1999 and it’s not even close. Who’s to say that Garoppolo would have been anything close to Mayfield?