The Patriots traded Garoppolo to the 49ers on Monday in exchange for a 2018 second-round draft pick, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
Garoppolo was thought to be the eventual successor to Tom Brady whenever the future Hall of Famer decided to hang up the cleats. New England's decision to trade him either signals the team's confidence that Brady will stick around for a few more years, the team's lack of confidence that they'd be able to re-sign Garappolo at a reasonable price when the 2014 second-rounder hits free agency at the end of the season, or both. Now in San Francisco, Garoppolo is an instant upgrade over rookie C.J. Beathard, but he may have a breaking-in period before he actually gets to start. We'd expect coach Kyle Shanahan to comment on the matter sooner than later.