Tom Brady, QB, New England Patriots
This pains me to write as a Patriots fan, but we need to be open about where Tom Brady is in his career.
Brady can still play the quarterback position at a solid level. But if he is to move to a new organization, the team that signs him is not getting the quarterback he was a few seasons ago. While it is true that the Patriots struggled to put weapons around him last season, despite their best efforts, Brady did see a dramatic drop in his production in 2019.
Let’s look at some numbers from PFF. Last year when pressured Brady posted an Adjusted Completion Percentage of just 59.5, which ranked 21st among qualified passers. That put him below such passers as Kyle Allen, Andy Dalton, Jared Goff and Ryan Fitzpatrick. His overall Adjusted Completion Percentage of 72.9 was 20th in the league, behind Fitzpatrick, Jacoby Brissett, Kyle Allen and Goff. Even when kept clean, his Adjusted Completion Percentage of 76.7 was behind Kyle Allen and Josh Allen, ranking 20th in the league. Brady…was an average quarterback last season.
Plus, he turns 43 in August. I’m 43, I know what 43 feels like. Granted I do not have my own sports performance company behind me and I’m not going to bed at 8 pm each night, but the body does not recover as it used to. We are in uncharted waters with Brady at this point in his career.
Now, perhaps recent reports are true and the free agency market for Brady is not as strong as it has been made out to be over the past few weeks. But if a team takes the plunge and signs Brady to a short-term, but big dollar, deal when free agency starts, there are some big risks at play.
After ten years of practicing law in the Washington, D.C., area, Mark Schofield now dedicates his time to his first love: The game of football. The former college quarterback’s work has been featured a number of places, including The Washington Post, Bleacher Report, SB Nation, Pro Football Weekly and the Matt Waldman Rookie Scouting Portfolio.