General manager John Lynch and the San Francisco 49ers were quickly turned down during last year's offseason after asking head coach Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots if they would consider trading quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
Lynch didn't stop there. He proceeded to ask for future Hall of Famer Tom Brady. It doesn't hurt to ask, right? Obviously, the Patriots declined.
Lynch was asked about the request for Brady during the latest Pardon My Take podcast.
"I'm not supposed to talk about that," Lynch said while laughing.
"We were calling about Jimmy and we did have that conversation and got quickly rebuffed," Lynch continued. "I figured, what the heck? You've got to take your shot, right? You can't score if you don't shoot. I had to summon up the courage, and Bill laughed at me and basically hung up on me. But hey, I took my shot."
PMT 8/27 featuring @49ers GM/NFL legend John Lynch + the Mount Rushmore of "Water" is live. Download + listen—-> https://t.co/hyFDGAlb6K pic.twitter.com/ZHB70CooQq
— Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake) August 27, 2018
The call ended up benefiting the 49ers. Belichick knew the 49ers were legitimately interested in their quarterbacks and about seven months later, Garoppolo, surprisingly, was headed to San Francisco.
"I would say that because we made an effort (to get Garoppolo) and were quickly rebuffed, we kind of thought, 'Okay, move on from that option,'" Lynch said. "He was a guy that kept showing up. Kyle (Shanahan) does a great job at having a library at each position. These are the traits we are looking for. Garoppolo kept showing up [at] the quarterback (spot) because he does some things that you can't teach that you look for at that position.
"There was a throw the other night in the preseason game (versus Dallas). DeMarcus Lawrence breathing down on him, he's got zero space, and that quick release just gets the ball (out of his hands). Those types of things kept showing up.
"There wasn't a huge sample size, but when you're blessed like that, we felt like it was worth taking a look when the opportunity presented itself and then he came in there and showed us that not only does he have the talent, he also has everything else you want in a guy who's your guy."
Click here to listen to the entire interview with John Lynch, which begins at about the 31:35 mark.
H/t to Zack Cox of NESN for the find.
On @PardonMyTake today, 49ers GM John Lynch told the story of asking Bill Belichick whether Tom Brady was available before trading for Jimmy G.
"Hey, I took my shot." pic.twitter.com/x2TxLeWqAk
— Zack Cox (@ZackCoxNESN) August 27, 2018
