Could Tom Brady’s Decline Mimic Peyton Manning’s? Nick Wright Explains

Tom Brady hasn’t fallen off “the cliff” this season. Nor should the Patriots be concerned about his plans to return in 2019. But there has been a noticeable drop-off in the 41-year-old’s performance, for one reason or another, creating questions as to what’s next for the New England quarterback.

Will Brady return to playing at an MVP level? Is this the new normal for Brady as he works toward his mid-40s? Will things get worse?

It’s nearly impossible to predict, especially since Brady has been written off before only to rebound better than ever. But Nick Wright wondered Thursday on FS1’s “First Things First” whether Brady could follow in the footsteps of former NFL QB Peyton Manning, who experienced a rather sharp decline before announcing his retirement in March 2016.

Manning, who missed the entire 2011 season after undergoing neck surgery, joined the Denver Broncos in March 2012. He posted huge numbers in his first two seasons with Denver — even throwing for a record 55 touchdowns in 2013 — and looked poised for another sensational campaign in 2014 when his production dropped both suddenly and significantly. Manning temporarily lost his job in 2015, and the Broncos ultimately won the Super Bowl that season in spite of his lackluster performance on the way out.

Now, Wright isn’t suggesting Brady will suffer the same fate — a steep drop-off late this season, a bad year in 2019, then retirement — but as he explained Thursday, we also shouldn’t rule out a similar scenario. While Brady has defeated Father Time to this point, it’d be foolish to automatically assume he’s immune to struggling as he nears the end of his storied career.

Manning wasn’t immune to such, and he, like Brady, played at an incredibly high level into his late 30s.