Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson was suspended for 11 games by the NFL on Thursday following an appeal of his original six-game suspension, leaving quarterback Jacoby Brissett as the current starter.
Some have pondered whether the Browns should make a move to acquire San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who has yet to find a home despite the 49ers' publicly backing second-year quarterback Trey Lance, including the Athletic's Jason Lloyd, who believes it's time for Cleveland "to go get Jimmy Garoppolo."
However, one NFL analyst doesn't believe that the Browns would pursue Garoppolo, even if the 30-year-old is released, because Cleveland feels that their team is strong as is.
Tony Grossi joined 95.7 The Game's "Damon and Ratto", sharing his intel on the Garoppolo saga on Thursday.
"I'm probably one of the biggest Garoppolo fans in Cleveland, believe it or not," Grossi said on 95.7 The Game. "I get no evidence whatsoever that they will pursue Garoppolo, even when released. He does not have an advocate in the Browns building for whatever reason – whether he doesn't score well on the analytics meter. Whatever it is, they have shown no evidence – and I've checked my sources on this pretty regularly – I think I would have known by now that they were poised to go after him. Maybe they will, maybe they're hiding it really well. But I think they feel that their team is so strong that they can keep their head above water with Brissett. As long as he doesn't get hurt, because second in line is Josh Dobbs. I don't know how to explain it, their non-interest in Garoppolo. But it's real."
Currently, the Browns do indeed really like Brissett, according to Grossi, which goes in line with what general manager Andrew Berry has been telling reporters during the Deshaun Watson situation.
"They would have to have interest," Grossi said. "But it may be too late then, it may be too late [if they show interest only when Brissett gets injured]. They are infatuated with Brissett, who looks very average on the practice field to me. He's only gonna play in one preseason game, that's the third one against Chicago, he won't play this weekend against Philadelphia."
The 49ers have to cut down to a 53-man roster on August 30th, although they can keep Jimmy Garoppolo and his non-guaranteed salary until September 10th, which is the date when his $24.2 million base salary becomes fully guaranteed.