When the 49ers acquired quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo from the New England Patriots in the middle of the 2017 season for a second-round draft pick, the price seemed quite inexpensive.
The 49ers traded the No. 43 overall selection in last year’s draft to gain Garoppolo’s services, and they were done.
But the Patriots were not.
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Predictably, Bill Belichick dealt that pick to the Detroit Lions for a later second-round pick and a fourth-rounder.
That was the first of four trades involving the original pick and all the machinations that followed from it. It's a little bit difficult to follow the paper trail of all the Patriots' deals, as first sorted out by Pats Pulpit.
The Patriots traded up last year in the second round to select Florida cornerback Duke Dawson. In the sixth round, and as a direct result of the pick acquired in the 49ers’ deal, they chose Arizona State linebacker Christian Sam. Neither Dawson nor Sam saw action as rookies, but both remain on the Patriots' roster.
In this year’s draft, the Patriots selected running back Damien Harris in the third round in a trade with the Chicago Bears, involving a spin-off of the original 49ers trade. Other off-shoots of the Garopplo trade enabled the Patriots to select Vanderbilt cornerback Joejuan Williams in the second round, West Virginia offensive tackle Yodny Cajuste in the third round and Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidham in the fourth round.
San Francisco 49ers
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Moreover, the Patriots have another pick with ties to the Garoppolo deal, as their trade with the Bears this year included a fourth-round pick in next year’s draft.
So, as a direct result of the Garoppolo trade, the Patriots have selected:
LB Christian Sam, sixth round, 2018
RB Damien Harris, third round, 2019
And they’ve used picks acquired in subsequent trades as part of the packages to draft:
CB Duke Dawson, second round, 2018
CB Joejuan Williams, second round, 2019
OT Yodny Cajuste, third round, 2019
QB Jarrett Stidham, fourth round, 2019
And the Patriots are not done:
Chicago’s fourth-round pick, 2020