You know the old saying, "shooters shoot"? That feels very relevant here.
When it comes to making a trade deal with Bill Belichick, one can only imagine what that process is like as an NFL general manager (remember, Belichick also has the big front office role, he's like the Alex Cora and Dave Dombrowski combined of the Patriots). John Lynch weighed in on the process a little bit this week--or at least what happens when you ask for something that Belichick doesn't like.
The San Francisco 49ers general manager appeared on the "Pardon My Take" podcast and revealed that last year, he asked about Tom Brady's trade availability before they had a done deal on Jimmy Garoppolo.
Here's what happened:
"We were calling about Jimmy, and we did have that conversation and got quickly rebuffed," he said. "I figured what the heck, you've got to take your shot. You can't score if you don't shoot. So I had to summon up the coverage, and Bill laughed at me and basically hung up on me. But hey, I took my shot."
So yeah, that's pretty much what you'd expect to happen--except the laughing part. I was just expecting him to say he heard a dial tone afterwards.
Also, here's a thought: if Belichick is one of the greatest football minds of this generation, why would anyone want to trade with him? Like, you know there's a good chance he's going to rip you off because he's such a smart guy. Not really sure what other sides stand to gain from it--like the Cleveland Browns having Jamie Collins. That's not getting them any closer to a Super Bowl now, is it?
But the lesson here is that if you don't try, you'll never know. Now go out there and try something new today. It might just be a great choice.