Tom Brady is milking the hell out of his first foray into NFL free agency. It seems like every tentpole event for the league brings another bit of Brady intrigue. Before the Super Bowl, his ominous Instagram post had people poring over it, looking for any sign of Brady’s intentions. It turned out to be an ad for Hulu.
As on-field workouts are set to kick off at the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine, Brady thrust himself back into the spotlight. This time with a report from ESPN’s Jeff Darlington during an appearance on Get Up.
Darlington, who has landed exclusive interviews with Brady in the past, says that he’d be “stunned” if Brady was back with the Patriots in 2020.
“I’m now at the point where I would be stunned if Tom Brady went back to New England.”
—@jeffdarlington on @GetUpESPN pic.twitter.com/CnyoANl77v
— ESPN (@espn) February 27, 2020
Darlington cites “people very close to Tom Brady” who say the 42-year-old quarterback is telling them he’s done in New England, which means that Brady wants us to know that he’s willing to move on. There’s a reason for that, and the most logical reason is that Brady wants to put public pressure on the Pats to get a deal done. Or maybe Brady just wants to let the other 31 teams know that his services are available.
That’s the thing about these reports. They could mean nothing. Or they could mean everything.
After all, this is the NFL we’re talking about. And, when it comes to quarterbacks, the most boring outcome tends to be the one we get. Sure, every now and then a Kirk Cousins makes it to free agency. Or a damaged Peyton Manning is let go for a shiny new franchise quarterback. But this is Tom Brady and the Patriots, a team without a viable replacement for the GOAT. You don’t just win six rings together and just wander off in separate directions.
In all likelihood, Brady will be back in New England and we’ll all feel like chumps for thinking there was ever a chance he’d leave. That’s just what Brady wants us and, more importantly, Bill Belichick to believe. This speculation brings more of our dumb eyeballs to his various social media platforms — maybe a few us will even buy some TB12 merch while we’re there! — and it might convince Belichick to make more roster moves to help make Brady’s job easier and, therefore, more desirable. Either way, he’s getting something out of this. You don’t just hand out the kind information he gave Darlington for no reason. There’s always a reason.
I really don’t know if it makes sense for either the Patriots or Brady to keep this relationship going, to be honest. Brady is no longer at the peak of his powers and needs a supporting cast that the Pats aren’t capable of providing him with. And New England is hurting for cap space and should probably get a head start on finding its next quarterback anyway. A breakup is probably best for both.
But what is Belichick gonna do? Pay Jameis Winston or draft some project late in the first round and throw him to the wolves? And what is Brady gonna do? Move to Indianapolis or Tennessee to play for some second-rate playoff team that doesn’t have the greatest coach ever?
Nah.
For better or worse, these two are stuck with each other for the time being. But you’re crazy if you think that’s going to stop us from devouring each and every bit of Brady news we get over the next 20 days even though we all know how this ends.