Shannon Sharpe is ready to close the book on Tom Brady’s tenure with the New England Patriots.
Brady, infamously selected in the sixth round (199th overall) of the 2000 NFL Draft, has spent his entire 20-year career in New England, but Sharpe believes the quarterback’s time with the Patriots is nearing its expiration date. The 42-year-old is set to become a free agent for the first time in his career this offseason, meaning Saturday’s wild-card round matchup with the Tennessee Titans at Gillette Stadium could mark Brady’s final game in a Patriots uniform.
“I’ve been on the record at the beginning of the season and said I believe 20 years is going to be Tom’s limit in New England,” Sharpe said on Friday’s episode of “Undisputed” on FS1. “Coach (Bill) Belichick is normally a year early and he was going to be two years early (in 2017), but I believe in his mind he felt that winning one Super Bowl with (Jimmy Garoppolo) was worth more than two with Tom Brady, because it would have given him what he values the most: ‘that I get most credit for this dynasty.’ They’ve been trying to wait each other out for the longest time.
” … This is why Coach Belichick wanted to move on with Jimmy G: Because he’s seeing what Jimmy G is doing (with the San Francisco 49ers). He understands when you have a franchise quarterback, an all-time great, and you don’t have a bridge to succession, you’re going to spend as many years down as you spend up.”
The Patriots, of course, traded Garoppolo to the 49ers during the 2017 season, confirming Brady would continue to be New England’s starting quarterback for the foreseeable future. It worked out for the Patriots, who have gone to back-to-back Super Bowls since the trade, winning one, but Brady has shown signs of regression this season, making it fair to wonder whether Belichick would prefer to move on in the coming months even without Garoppolo to succeed the best quarterback in NFL history.
“This is what (Belichick) saw: He said, ‘You know what? I can be ahead of the curve. I can have 10, 12 years of Jimmy Garoppolo, win another two, three Super Bowls, and we can keep this thing rolling.’ I don’t believe Mr. (Robert) Kraft would intervene this time around,” Sharpe said. “Now, this is going to be very interesting. Ryan Tannehill is an unrestricted free agent. Cam Newton, Philip Rivers, all these guys will be unrestricted free agents. For me, I think Tannehill would be a better choice in New England if you don’t wanna go with (Jarrett) Stidham, but I don’t see a scenario where Tom Brady is back with New England in the 2020 season.”
For now, we wait. But there’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Patriots’ future, and that’s before you begin to consider Skip Bayless’ crazy theory about whether Belichick will take his talents elsewhere this offseason.
