Retired defensive end Chris Long apparently has turned to hot-takery in his next career.
Long, who won a Super Bowl with the Patriots during his lone season in New England in 2016, wrote a guest column for SI.com on Tuesday that included a pretty bold prediction about the future of Tom Brady and his former backup, Jimmy Garoppolo.
Here's a snippet:
Let’s say Jimmy G has a modest year (I don’t think he does) and looks like Tannehill 2.0. Next offseason, Brady hits the market and expresses interest in returning home to suit up for the team he adored as a teenager (in 1990). San Francisco releases Garoppolo and he ends up back in New England, where (Bill) Belichick beautifully repurposes what’s perceived as damaged goods.
Long's bold prediction: that Brady and Garoppolo star in their own version of "Trading Places," with Brady (a Bay Area native) signing with his hometown 49ers in 2020 free agency and the Patriots bringing back Garoppolo after San Francisco releases him. Long even goes one step further to foresee a Patriots-49ers Super Bowl between the swapped QBs.
This scenario technically could happen, as Brady's contract extension will make him a free agent at the start of the 2020 league year. And if you like reading tea leaves, the 42-year-old quarterback recently put his Brookline, Mass., house on the market after giving a less-than-ringing endorsement of his new contract.
Long also played with both QBs in 2016, so maybe he knows something we don't about their future desires.
New England Patriots
... Or maybe he doesn't. The Niners invested five years and $137.5 million in Garoppolo after acquiring him in a 2017 trade with the Patriots, suggesting he's clearly their franchise quarterback, even if he has a down year while returning from a torn ACL.
As for Brady? We suppose San Francisco makes sense as the only other team he'd play for, but as long as New England is competing for Super Bowls on a weekly basis, it's hard to see him jumping ship this late in his career.
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