Tom Brady Needs to Stay in New England or Retire
The news of the weekend is how the Tennessee Titans supposedly ended the dreaded Patriots dynasty by defeating New England 20–13 at Gillette Stadium. And as usual, the storyline wasn’t that Tennessee had an amazing game plan and won a playoff game on the road; the storyline instead was questioning the future of Tom Brady and the entire New England Patriots team.
Tom Brady has stated that he would not be taking a “hometown discount,” something he has done in the past. With that in mind, there is a good chance that Tom Brady moves on from the Patriots and signs with a team who is willing to give him a contract with fully guaranteed money, something Kirk Cousins currently has in Minnesota.
Bill Belichick is the man who calls the shots in New England. If you believe prior rumors and reports, Belichick wanted to move on from Brady before the Patriots eventually traded backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers for a second round pick. The owner of the Patriots, Bob Kraft, supposedly axed any talks of moving on from Brady, thus how the Garoppolo trade got finalized.
Brady, who will be 43 by the time next season starts, has not yet decided on his future. For all we know, he could end up retiring. That would be the best decision for him. In all honesty, he should have gone out on top after winning last year’s Super Bowl, the same way Peyton Manning went out.
Father Time is undefeated. We saw it with Peyton Manning, we saw it yesterday with Drew Brees, we saw it this season with Phillip Rivers, and we are starting to see it with Tom Brady, as well. He hasn’t been awful by any means, but he’s also not the same Brady. He will need a lot of help around him to be able to win a Super Bowl one last time. If he tries to get as much money as possible, there is a good chance that whatever team he goes to will not be able to put proper weapons around him to succeed. Gone are the days where Brady could do it with a bunch of undrafted free agents.
Brady’s pride is getting in the way of the truth. He may want to play until he’s 45, but he will need all the help he can get. If he will get paid in the $35 million range, it is unlikely a team will be able to get key running backs or wide receivers for him. Unless of course, they already have those on the team and they are on rookie deals or bargain deals.
Tom Brady has very much been a guy who cares about his legacy and his image. And rightfully so. If Brady goes to another team, it’s just an ego move. It’s a move for him to prove that it wasn’t Bill Belichick that was the reasons for the six Super Bowl wins, but it was him and his talent. I’m sure Bill Belichick would want to prove the same, as well.
Brady doesn’t want to become players like Joe Namath, Joe Montana, Emmitt Smith, Johnny Unitas, or even Michael Jordan. All of those players wanted to prove they could keep playing and they signed with another team. Most people tend to forget about their tenure with those teams, but it still is an example of players with great legacies who should’ve retired before going to other teams.
If Tom Brady can finish his career out in New England under a discounted rate, Belichick can surround him with more talent with the money they can save by signing him cheap and they can have one more run at this.
There’s also the chance that Brady’s skills diminish quickly due to his age. Then the conversation will be, “it was always Bill Belichick’s coaching and schemes compared to Tom Brady’s talent.” Which isn’t fair to say because it’s someone who is well past their prime. Brady would have to go to a team like the Bears, Chargers, or Raiders who have a solid team around him but don’t have to rely on him to be doing everything the way he was forced to this season in New England.
The better option is to either walk away as the greatest quarterback of all time, or to work something out with the Patriots to stay there until he retires. It would be wise to have open communication and have them draft a quarterback in the second or third round and have him sit behind Brady for a season or two. It would be similar to what Belichick was doing with Garoppolo. That way, they can have a smooth transition like Green Bay did when they moved on from Brett Favre and put in Aaron Rodgers.
Nevertheless, we don’t what will happen just yet. What we do know is this offseason will be filled with rumors and reports about Brady’s future in New England and the possible drama surrounding it. It will make for big topics on debate shows on ESPN and Fox Sports throughout the spring and summer.
Until then, we will be seeing a new Super Bowl champion be crowned in February.
