Jimmy Garappolo

New England Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo will be a hot commodity when the trading period opens in March.

(Charles Krupa)

HOUSTON -- Patriots backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo isn't thinking about being traded to a team such as the Browns just yet, but in a little over a month, he'll likely be the hottest commodity on the trading block.

"To be honest, I really haven't thought about it much,'' he said Wednesday at Super Bowl availability. "It's not even in the back of my mind. We're focused on the Falcons this week. It's a big week for us. It's the biggest game of the year and that's kind of where my mind's at.''

After going 2-0 this year and getting a taste of starting, would he welcome the chance to turn around a losing franchise such as the Browns?

"That opportunity really hasn't approached me yet, so we'll see when we get there I guess,'' he said.

When asked about trade reports on Tuesday, he said, "It will be interesting. Right now, just focused on this week. It's a crazy week, hectic with all this stuff. We'll see what happens."

The Browns are one of several teams who will toss their hat in the ring if the Patriots are willing to deal Garoppolo, especially if they're not enamored with one of the top three quarterbacks in the draft: Mitch Trubisky, Deshaun Watson or DeShone Kizer. In fact, the teams with the top three picks in the draft might all have interest in the Garoppolo, a second-round pick out of Eastern Illinois in 2014.

The Browns have the No. 1 pick. The 49ers, who will be coached by former Browns offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, go second and the Bears, with former Browns offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains running the offense, have the No. 3 pick. Bears GM Ryan Pace also is an Eastern Illinois product.

Is it conceivable one of those teams would surrender a top-three pick for Garoppolo? One former NFL general manager told cleveland.com at the Senior Bowl that he'd give up the No. 1 overall. The Browns also have the No. 12 overall pick from the Eagles trade and the No. 33 pick at the top of the second round. They have the most ammunition in this year's draft to land Garoppolo if they really want him.

Shanahan liked Garoppolo more than Teddy Bridgewater in the 2014 draft when he was with the Browns and spent a lot of extra time with him. Loggains, then the Browns quarterbacks coach, was alongside Shanahan for all that due diligence.

"I remember going on a visit to (to Cleveland) and they (also) worked me out,'' Garoppolo said. "There was a lot of interaction. I met (Shanahan) and coach Dowell Loggains and we had a good experience. It was a good visit.''

The Browns, of course, drafted Johnny Manziel that year -- against Shanahan's wishes. Now, he might have a chance to coach the quarterback he liked perhaps better than the rest that year. Shanahan's high-flying offense -- first in the NFL in points per game and tied for seventh-most in NFL history -- hasn't been lost on Garoppolo.

He's been running it all week for the scout team and loves it.

"It's a fun offense actually,'' he said. "They run a lot of different routes and deep stuff and it's fun for the quarterback. Having athletes like he has, I'm sure he enjoys it. (On scout team) one week you'll have a good offense that you enjoy running and the next week you're like 'Aw, man, I don't like this offense.' (But) it's really quarterback-friendly.''

As for Browns coach Hue Jackson, Garoppolo doesn't have much history with him. Jackson, a noted quarterback expert, was offensive coordinator of the Bengals when Garappolo came out of school, and was set with quarterback Andy Dalton.

"I met (Jackson) at the combine,'' Garoppolo said. "It was one of those 15-minute meetings. I think that was about our only interaction.''

In his six quarters of play before suffering a sprained shoulder in Week 2 against Miami, Garoppolo went 2-0, threw four touchdowns without an interception, completed 71.2 percent of his passes and earned a 119.0 rating.

"As a quarterback, you always believe in yourself,'' he said. "You always know you can do things. Once you get your opportunity, you can either do it or you don't. I'd like to think I took advantage of that opportunity."

The Browns will weigh Garoppolo's two starts and three years in Bill Belichick's system -- behind arguably the greatest quarterback of all time in Tom Brady -- against drafting a rookie quarterback high and having a 50-50 chance of success.

At 6-2, 225, he's got the prototypical size and skill set the Browns are looking for, including arm strength and processing speed. Because he is heading into the final year of his rookie contract, the Browns would have to work out an extension before making the trade.

Garoppolo provided a glimpse into mindset about wanting to start somewhere when asked about his choice of Eastern Illinois.

"The Big Ten schools all talked to me as a preferred walk-on and I had a couple of other scholarships at small schools, but at Eastern it was just a great opportunity to play, which is really what got me -- and we all want to play -- so that was the main thing,'' he said.

Question is, will the Patriots be willing to trade him? With Brady saying in 2015 that he wants to dominate for another 10 years, the Patriots won't be able to pay Garoppolo the money he'll make on the open market. Besides, Belichick seemed to throw down the trade gauntlet in mid-November when he said Brady and Garoppolo were interchangeable.

"When we put Jimmy in there, it's really seamless,'' he said. "Unless you were actually looking at the position, if you just could block out that position and say which was in there at quarterback, I don't know if you would know a lot of the times."

That's first-round pick talk, but he just might be worth it.