Bill Belichick: Jimmy Garoppolo's 'Career Is Moving Forward' After 49ers Trade

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick spoke on Tuesday about the decision to trade Jimmy Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers, noting that the quarterback's "career is moving forward," according to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe. 

Belichick noted:

"First of all, I have a tremendous amount of respect for Jimmy. I couldn't ask for him to give us any more than he's given us. The 49ers are getting a good player, and they're getting a good person, and they're getting a great teammate and they're getting a good quarterback.

"As his career moves forward we have to look at our team, both this year and beyond, and that's a consideration we have to make. We probably had, in my opinion, the best quarterback situation in the league for the last—let's call it two-and-a-half years—it's just not sustainable given the way things are set up. It's definitely not something we wanted to walk away from and we felt like we rode it out as long as we could."

You can see his full comments below:

The Patriots found themselves in an interesting position with Garoppolo, who was set to be a free agent after this season. Had they believed Tom Brady was slowing down at age 40, the team likely would have offered the 25-year-old Garoppolo a contract extension and eventually made him the starter.

But with Brady still producing at an elite level—potentially for the foreseeable future—the Patriots faced losing Garoppolo for nothing in the offseason. Garoppolo almost assuredly would have sought a starting opportunity in free agency, something the Pats wouldn't be able to offer him while Brady remains healthy and productive. 

Instead, the Patriots were able to acquire a second-round pick. Not a bad haul for a player who they likely would have lost on the market.

As for Garoppolo's future in San Francisco, the Niners can afford to be patient, according to Bill Barnwell of ESPN.com:

"The 49ers are likely making this deal with the intention of having Garoppolo start under [Kyle] Shanahan in the long term, but there should be no rush in giving Garoppolo a long-term deal because he's in line to make just $434,158 more over the rest of the season. The Niners also can easily franchise Garoppolo in 2018 at a price that will exceed $23 million, given that general manager John Lynch should have in excess of $100 million in room after carrying over $60 million in unused space from this season's cap."

In essence, by dealing for Garappolo now, the Niners will have about half of a season to gauge his fit in Shanahan's scheme and his overall ability as a quarterback. Doing so would have been far more difficult to do without this dress rehearsal opportunity, as Garappolo has attempted just 63 passes in his short career. 

While the Niners gave up a quality pick for the opportunity to give Garappolo an extended tryout, they would have been addressing the quarterback position regardless in the offseason, either through the draft or by splashing major cash in free agency to a player like Kirk Cousins. If Garoppolo locks down the starting job for the foreseeable future, he'll be more than worth his price tag.