With Baker Mayfield being traded from Cleveland to Carolina last week, there is one more obvious musical chair still standing in the NFL world: Jimmy Garoppolo in San Francisco. The Niners have made no secret they'd like to deal Jimmy G and hand the keys to second-year quarterback Trey Lance, and NFL.com's Tom Pelissero has reported that with training camps getting ready to open, league executives are still expecting Garoppolo to be traded by the end of July. SportsLine offers updated odds on Jimmy G's next team if not the Niners.
Carolina is obviously out now, but could Cleveland be in? A suspension for Deshaun Watson should be announced any day now and it has been reported the NFL is looking for at least a full season. Maybe the Browns would be willing to move forward with veteran journeyman Jacoby Brissett if Watson were suspended perhaps only eight games, but a full year with such a talented roster? The Browns have $48 million in cap space, so they could trade for Garoppolo, who is 33-14 as a regular-season starter, and absorb his contract without having to restructure any deals.
San Francisco is letting Garoppolo's camp negotiate his contract ($24.2 million base in final year) with other teams to facilitate a trade. Garoppolo's right shoulder surgery this offseason has slowed the market but Jimmy G has been throwing for a couple of weeks.
There was a report over the weekend that the Tampa Bay Bucs had reached out to San Francisco about a possible trade, but Garoppolo's agent, Don Yee, said this: “The report came out that asserted that I had spoken to a media member about his future, but the report was false.” The Bucs make no sense right now; perhaps the could sign Garoppolo as a free agent next winter if Tom Brady retires.