CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Jimmy Garoppolo trade to the San Francisco 49ers never made much sense.

The 49ers traded a second-round pick, a rather modest price for the New England Patriots highly-regarded backup quarterback.

The Patriots also were able to add veteran Brian Hoyer as a backup. Hoyer was with the 49ers. Part of the deal was the 49ers would release Hoyer, allowing him to sign with the Patriots.

That's exactly what happened.

But the strange part was the Browns were willing to offer more for Garoppolo.

Much, much more.

At first, I thought, "I guess Hoyer was the key."

But I also thought, "There is something strange about this deal."

I made calls to several league sources.

On November 4, I wrote about how the Browns had last talked to the Patriots on October 28.

They couldn't even start a conversation. They were told Garoppolo wasn't available.

They said more than once, "If you are open to trading him, please call."

Two days later, he was traded to the 49ers.

An in-depth ESPN story by Seth Wickersham highlighted all the internal battles with the Patriots.

It was clear coach Bill Belichick wanted to keep Garoppolo. That's why he resisted any serious trade talks about the backup quarterback for more than year.

Even more to that point, the Patriots traded another backup quarterback -- Jacoby Brissett. He was shipped to the Indianapolis Colts on September 2 for Philip Dorsett, a wide receiver.

Why would Belichick trade both of his young quarterbacks within two months, leaving only 40-year-old Tom Brady and Hoyer as quarterbacks for next season?

WHO MADE THE CALL?

ESPN basically said Belichick was forced into trading Garoppolo by ownership.

The Patriots have denied it.

But it's just odd.

Apparently, the only team Belichick discussed the trade with was San Francisco.

Cleveland and other teams had been calling about Garoppolo. This would have been a perfect time for Belichick to leverage the deal, piling up offers -- maybe even putting together a three-way trade.

Never happened.

ESPN reported Belichick had a meeting with Patriots owner Robert Kraft:

"It ended with a clear mandate to Belichick ... trade Garoppolo because he would not be in the team's long-term plans ... Belichick was furious and demoralized ... he did his job. One morning in late October, Belichick texted 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan to call him..."

Supposedly, there was a rift between Brady and Garoppolo. Belichick believed Garoppolo was the future. Kraft wanted to keep Brady happy.

Kraft owns the team.

Belichick only talked to one team, according to ESPN.

That matched what I was told and wrote on November 3.

For what it's worth, in an interview with Monday Morning Quarterback's Peter King, Kraft denied ordering Belichick to trade Garoppolo.

Kraft called the report "a total fabrication and fiction."

BACK IN CLEVELAND

I received some criticism from readers when I wrote how the Browns never had a shot at Garoppolo in that November 3 story.

They said I was making excuses for former Browns vice president Sashi Brown.

There were other reports of the front office people going home early near the deadline. The Garoppolo deal was supposed to show they were not doing their jobs.

But the information I received back then was right, even though it made little sense to me.

Truth is: The Browns (and everyone else but San Francisco) never had a chance to discuss a Garoppolo deal.

I know that Brown was willing to part with Houston's first-round pick and other goodies. He would have been willing to help Belichick shop around for a backup quarterback to help the trade work.

The front office was especially baffled because they had made two trades with New England.

On August 25, 2016, they shipped Barkevious Mingo to the Patriots for a 2017 fifth-round pick.

On October 31, 2016, the Patriots traded Jamie Collins to the Browns for a 2017 third-round pick.

The Patriots have their own version of analytics and have used it for decades.

The Browns and Patriots were able to find common ground for other trades.

That's why the Browns were so confused when they were consistently frozen out of trade talks for Garoppolo.

And then even more baffled when they checked with other teams trying to deal for Garoppolo and heard the same story.

Only San Francisco was given a chance to trade for a franchise-changing quarterback.