There's been quite a bit of scuttlebutt this week regarding Tom Brady and his impending free agency following the 2010 season with the Patriots, and according to one report, it may not go away for a while.
Brady, according to Jason La Canfora of the NFL Network, will wait for Peyton Manning to sign a contract with the Colts before re-signing with the Pats.
"[Manning] is really going to be the pendulum that swings this thing," La Canfora said on the NFL Network. "To this point, there have been no real conversations between the Colts and Peyton Manning, [but] that deal will get done before a Tom Brady deal gets done."
Manning is due $15.8 million this season before becoming a free agent in 2011. The Indy Star reported in May that the Colts could be preparing a five-year, $100 million extension for Manning. There's long been a gap between Brady and Manning's salaries, but with Brady's next deal potentially being his last chance at big money, he may be seeking closer to fair value, according to La Canfora.
"The real question with Tom Brady is will he take as cap-friendly — assuming we have a cap in the future — and team-friendly deal as he did [in 2005, when he signed a six-year, $60 million deal with base salaries between $5.5 million and $6 million]," La Canfora said. "This is a guy set to make $5 million this year, while premium quarterbacks are making $15 million a year and above."
While La Canfora said that the Colts are more "lovey-dovey" and "touchy-feely" than Bill Belichick's Patriots and will therefore pay more to their franchise quarterback, he said he does not expect Brady to leave New England.
"Ultimately," La Canfora said. "I don't think that Brady goes anywhere, but the Manning contract will in many ways be the template — how close to that does Tom Brady feel he has to get? That'll be the key question."
