Jimmy Garoppolo's Agent Says Instagram Was Hacked with Farewell Post to Patriots

An early-morning Instagram post in which New England Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo appeared to be bidding farewell to the Pats was the result of a hack, according to his agent Don Yee, per Tom Pelissero of USA Today.

As seen in the following post that went up at roughly 4 a.m. ET Friday morning and has now been deleted, it seemed Garoppolo suggested he had been traded (h/t Kirk and Callahan on Twitter):

According to ESPN's Mike Reiss, a source close to Garoppolo said the post was a hoax or hack.

With Tom Brady turning in an MVP-caliber season in 2016, Garoppolo trade rumors gained steam. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on March 1, however, that New England intends to keep him.

Garoppolo started the first two games of the 2016 regular season for the Pats while Brady was serving a four-game suspension, and he went 2-0, throwing for 496 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions before an injury forced him to give way to Jacoby Brissett.

Brady, arguably the best quarterback of all time, will be 40 before the 2017 season begins. Garoppolo could conceivably land a first-round pick from a quarterback-needy team, but at just 25, he has obvious appeal to the Patriots as well.