Though Tyrod Taylor and Colin Kaepernick are options, Garoppolo seems to fit the vision of finding a young player ready to grow. If the Browns really will be active in free agency, as the early chatter suggests, they need to find a quarterback who can play right away so the position does not hold the team back.

Garoppolo was a 2014 second-round pick out of Eastern Illinois. Last season he started the first two games while Brady was suspended, and he played well, throwing for 469 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in six quarters before he hurt his throwing shoulder just before halftime of the second game. The injury is a red flag for some, but Garoppolo started 37 games in his final three college seasons.

Garoppolo has one year left on his contract. The Patriots have Jacoby Brissett, who could back up Brady. If New England is going to get something for Garoppolo, this would be the time.

If New England is willing to trade Garoppolo, the competition will be significant — and maybe the 12th pick won’t be enough.

CBSSports.com already has reported that the Bears will make a strong bid to acquire Garoppolo. If Chicago is willing to give up the third overall pick in the draft, it would prove that the price is rarely too high if a team believes it has its guy.

Garoppolo has a ton of leverage in this possible deal. No team will trade for him if he does not agree to a contract extension. Brock Osweiler’s tale could be a cautionary one. As Peyton Manning’s backup, Osweiler had some success in 2015 in Denver. Houston gave him $72 million for four years — $37 million guaranteed. For that money, Osweiler produced 15 touchdowns with 16 interceptions, an 8-6 record and a playoff appearance.

Garoppolo might want not warrant that large a deal, but it won’t be far off.

The argument against Garoppolo? Belichick has made a living of grooming quarterbacks and letting them go when he had a replacement. Names such as Matt Cassel, Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett come to mind. None had sustained, long-term success after he got a chance with other teams.

But it’s also true that Belichick has never drafted a quarterback as high as he did in 2014 in the second round with Garoppolo, who is now 25.

If the Browns decide Garoppolo’s the guy, he could be the guy for a long time. On the other hand, the draftees Cleveland could take might not be ready to start until they’re 25 as well.

Given all this, there should be no hesitation to deal the 12th pick.

It would be nice if the Browns could acquire Garoppolo for the first pick in the second round. That deal would be a no-brainer, but it doesn’t seem realistic given the premium on the quarterback position.

The Browns at some point have to take a shot at a quarterback. Garoppolo is this year’s “it” guy. It will take a lot to get him and to pay him.

If the Browns decide Garoppolo is their guy, if they believe he is the answer, there is no reason not to give up the 12th pick to get him.

Somehow, it doesn’t seem to matter. With the perfect mix of timing, personality and performance, Cruz managed to become and remain a Giants legend despite such a limited (three years at the most) window of success.

“Victor is one of the great stories of the National Football League,” general manager Jerry Reese said in a statement after Cruz’s release. “He came in here and earned everything that he’s gotten. It has been amazing to see him grow from an undrafted free agent to a Pro Bowl player and one of our go-to guys during the Super Bowl XLVI run. He will always be one of the great Giants.”

Underdog story

A lot of it has to do with the story of Victor Cruz, which has at this point been told 10,000 times over. He’s a local kid (from Paterson, New Jersey) who almost flunked out of UMass. He came to the Giants as an unknown undrafted free agent and was a long shot to make the roster.

He immediately caught the attention of the Giants and their fans. And then Rex Ryan.

“I don’t know who No. 3 is, but holy sh–,” Ryan said after Cruz torched the New York Jets for six catches for 146 yards and three touchdowns in his first preseason game.

That was 2010, his rookie year. During the season, Cruz rarely saw the field. It was 2011 when he exploded for 82 receptions for 1,536 yards and nine touchdowns.

But it was more than his production that made him an ideal candidate for superstardom.

It was … everything.

The memorable plays

It wasn’t just what Cruz did. It was how and when he did it. Perhaps the biggest play of the 2011 season (and Cruz’s career) was a 99-yard touchdown, with the Giants trailing the Jets on Christmas Eve. It put the Giants in the lead and propelled them into a Super Bowl run.

Just over a month later, Cruz was dancing in the end zone at the Super Bowl, capping a season filled with big plays. Cruz had a mind-boggling 25 receptions of 20-plus yards that year. He never topped 12 in any other season.

But his flair for the jaw-dropper (see his jump cut vs. the Texans in 2014) or the dramatic (see his game-winning touchdown in Week 1 this past season after missing most of the previous two years) defines Cruz. There always seemed to be something special with that smile, the way he handled himself and the way he made everyone seem as if they were his closest friend. It left indelible memories with the fan base, teammates and the entire organization.

Nobody did it with a smile on his face quite like Cruz.

The personality and being a Jersey kid

Some players just resonate with the fans and the city.

“Cruuuuuuz,” Giants fans chanted after almost every catch.

He had his own chant. He had his own dance. He had his own first-down celebration and unique style.

Nineteen?!

That surprised me.

Here’s Graziano’s methodology, laid out in the column: This is not simply a ranking of starters, though starters (especially those who never miss games) obviously make up the bulk of the formula. Nor is it a pure comparison of quarterbacks’ accomplishments to date. It’s a rating based on the confidence each team currently should have in those at the position.

So this doesn’t mean Dak Prescott is the 19th-ranked quarterback in the NFL. It means the Cowboys’ quarterback situation is 19th-best in the NFL. Feel better? Yeah, I think that’s a little low, too. But my guy Graz breaks the index into categories: All set; Set but for how long?; Caught on a speed bump; Trending up; Just fine; Keep it up, kid; Watch your back, and No idea.

The Cowboys check in at “Keep it up, kid,” with Tennessee, Tampa Bay and Philadelphia.

An argument can be made that the quarterback situations are better for those four than for, say, Cincinnati and Minnesota, which are in the “Just fine” category. Would you rather have Prescott, Sam Bradford or Andy Dalton? Washington is in the “Trending up” category, with Kirk Cousins set to be franchise-tagged again if he doesn’t reach a long-term deal.

It’s interesting to compare this to the Confidence Index points from the 2016 season. The Cowboys checked in at No. 30 in September. Handing the keys over to a rookie fourth-round pick, even one who had played as well as Prescott had in the preseason, did not inspire much confidence, so it made sense for Dallas to be in the bottom third.

In October, the Cowboys moved up to No. 18. In November, they moved to No. 5. And they ended up at No. 6 in December.

Maybe the return of Romo had something to do with the confidence going up. If something happened to Prescott, the Cowboys would have been better off than any other team having to play its “backup” quarterback late in the season.

If I were constructing a ranking, albeit with different criteria than this list, I’d probably have Prescott somewhere in the 10-14 range.

Graziano wants to see more from Prescott, which is a completely fair expectation. Everybody should want to see more from Prescott, even as well as he played in a season that ended with him being named Offensive Rookie of the Year.