Seth Wickersham’s report about dysfunction within the Patriots organization has been the talk of the NFL world on Friday, and things have been no different in the Bay Area, following the piece’s revelation that Bill Belichick was forced by ownership into trading Jimmy Garoppolo.
The report answers a number of questions, and also provides clarity as to why the 49ers have been so tightlipped regarding the nature of the trade up to this point. In fact, 49ers beat writer Matt Maiocco told Gary & Larry on Friday that it’s clear to him that part of the agreement between Belichick and 49ers general manager John Lynch, was that the 49ers would not discuss the details of the trade publicly.
“One of the other interesting elements of this, is it was pretty clear from the 49ers’ standpoint that the Patriots, or Bill Belichick, asked them not to discuss the details of how this all came about,” Maiocco said. “When we talked about the timeline the day after, when Jimmy Garoppolo arrived in town and had the press conference, John Lynch made it pretty clear that they were not going to get into the details of this.
“As recently as Tuesday, as John Lynch was striding off the stage from their season ending press conference, someone asked ‘have you talked to Bill Belichick since Jimmy entered the starting lineup and played so well?’ John Lynch kind of cracked a smile and said, ‘we don’t talk about that. We’re onto the offseason,’ borrowing from Belichick’s famous line. It was pretty clear that the 49ers were holding up their end of the bargain of not discussing the particulars that the Patriots did not want out there.”
In all, the dysfunction in New England has potentially altered the course of the 49ers franchise for years to come, as Garoppolo looks like he has the ability to be a top five quarterback, something that has caused even New England owner Robert Kraft to admit to those close to him that he might have made a mistake, according to Wickersham. Belichick on the other hand, “has taken pride in Garoppolo’s 5-0 record in San Francisco,” according to the piece.
Listen to the full interview below. To hear Maiocco’s comments on the Jimmy G deal, skip to 4:40.