FOXBORO, Mass. — Tom Brady isn’t in a hurry to bequeath his starting role to Jimmy Garoppolo, which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.
Brady, speaking to the media for the first time at Gillette Stadium this offseason, delivered a familiar message Monday — that the New England Patriots’ starting quarterback has no immediate plans to retire.
“Hopefully I’m answering those questions a long time from now, too, and you guys can just reprint the stories or whatever you want to write now,” Brady said. “I want to do this for this team for as long as I possibly can. I love playing football for this team and for this organization. My goal is to continue to play at a high level, and there is nothing that really gets in the way of that.”
Last week, during the doldrums of the NFL offseason, there was debate if Brady still is an “elite” starting quarterback in the NFL, despite playing at a high level in 2013 with a weakened corps of receiving targets. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick acknowledged that Brady is getting older after the team drafted Garoppolo.
Brady is signed with the Patriots through 2017.
