A joint training camp practice ended on fields adjacent to Gillette Stadium and the Patriots' Jimmy Garoppolo was making his way along the rope fence signing autographs and posing for selfies.

He spent a solid 15 minutes visiting with fans while Ryan Pace, a fellow Eastern Illinois football product, stood patiently by a goal post on the last field taking in the chants of "Jimmy! Jimmy!" Just as they were about to meet, Garoppolo encountered some special-needs children and spent extra time with them.

Finally, the Bears general manager and the quarterback who likely will be a trade commodity this offseason got together.

"We got to talk one-on-one and it was just a couple of Eastern guys hanging out," said Garoppolo, who is playing the role of Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan in practice this week as the Patriots prepare for Super Bowl LI. "There are not many Eastern Illinois guys (in the NFL), so it's a small group and we like to stick together."

Come March, it will be interesting to see if the Bears are a suitor for Garoppolo, whom the Patriots could seek to trade as he enters the final year of his rookie contract. Do the Bears make a play for a veteran like Garoppolo, 25, or do they take their chances on hitting a home run with a quarterback in the draft? Do they believe that three years in the Patriots system and all that time under Tom Brady has made Garoppolo, a record-setter at EIU, a franchise quarterback in waiting? Remember, Garoppolo has two NFL starts, four fewer than Matt Barkley, and has thrown only 94 regular-season passes.

It was in mid-November that coach Bill Belichick offered unprompted endorsement of Brady's backup when he said, "When we put Jimmy in there it's really seamless. 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."

If that's not an early and transparent sales pitch, what is? Yes, Brady turns 40 in August, but he has shown no signs of slowing down and has talked about wanting to play another four or five seasons. So the Patriots can look to flip Garoppolo for currency in the draft. The Bears would have to discuss the possibility as would the Browns, 49ers and every other quarterback-needy team out there. Cleveland has the first and 12th picks in Round 1 and the 33rd overall pick at the top of Round 2.

"It will be interesting," said Garoppolo, the Rolling Meadows High product. "Right now, just focused on this week. It's a crazy week, hectic with all this stuff. We'll see what happens."

Garoppolo has a chance to win his second Super Bowl ring in three seasons, but ultimately he craves the opportunity to play. That chance came when Brady was suspended for the first four games of the season. Garoppolo played only six quarters before a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder sidelined him. It's a small sample size, but his results were enticing as he completed 42 of 59 passes for 496 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions.

"Jimmy just went out there and did his thing like he's always done in practice," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

On the first possession of the season opener in Arizona, he hit streaking wide receiver Chris Hogan for a 37-yard touchdown. Yes, he'd played in exhibition games and in mop-up duty in his first two seasons, but this was the real deal.

"I was amped up after that," Garoppolo said. "We were going nuts on the sideline. It was a hell of a night. As a quarterback, you always believe in yourself. 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."

It will be fascinating to see what kind of market the Patriots can create for Garoppolo, and most believe they will seek to deal him. Some have suggested they will seek a package similar to the first- and fourth-round picks the Eagles got from the Vikings for Sam Bradford, but the Vikings were a team with Super Bowl aspirations desperate for a replacement for Teddy Bridgewater at the start of the season. That was a perfect storm for the Eagles, and Bradford came with plenty of NFL experience.

The Patriots will most certainly demand considerably more than the late second-round pick they invested in Garoppolo in 2014 after training him for three seasons. And if the Bears get in play for his services, they'll have to be all-in, meaning they will need to be prepared to sign him to a contract extension.

Any team acquiring Garoppolo could have him play out his rookie contract in 2017 and then use the franchise tag, but if you believe enough in him to trade plenty of draft capital to acquire him, you'd better sign him. Failure to sign Garoppolo would give him massive leverage over a new team if he plays well, not unlike the Grandbetting situation the Redskins face with Kirk Cousins, whom they have to sign to a huge contract, tag for $24.7 million for 2017 or let walk. A deal for Garoppolo would likely be in the range of the four-year, $72 million contract Brock Osweiler received from the Texans, a pact with $37 million guaranteed.

But that's talk for the offseason when you can wonder if fans will be chanting "Jimmy! Jimmy!" on the practice fields in Bourbonnais. Imagine a couple of Eastern guys talking football there. They like to stick together.

"This is where I hear the most of it, when you are asking questions," Garoppolo said. "(For now) all of it is just talk and rumors."

bmbiggs@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @BradBiggs

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