When will the New England Patriots’ dynasty finally end?
It’s a question football fans have been asking themselves for the better part of two decades, and it’s a question we’re seemingly no closer to answering with the Patriots coming off their sixth Super Bowl victory since the 2001 NFL season. But there inevitably will come a point where New England no longer is a dominant force, and Nick Wright believes that time will arrive when Tom Brady finally retires.
“Let’s just assume (Bill) Belichick coaches past Brady’s career, which I think is a safe bet. I think they’ll continue to be a playoff team. I think they’ll continue to be good. But this level of championship excellence, to me, ends when the (Brady/Belichick) partnership ends,” Wright said Monday on FS1’s “First Things First.”
“The comparison that’s always made to the Patriots is (Tim) Duncan and (Gregg) Popovich in the NBA,” he added. “Since Duncan retired, the Spurs have been good. They’ve been to the playoffs. They made a Western Conference finals, even. But they have not been a championship-caliber team since they lost that great player, even though at the very end of his run he was not the best player in the league as he was early, similar to Tom Brady. I guess it depends on how you define ‘dynasty.’ ”
Brady, who just turned 42, reportedly agreed to a contract extension with New England over the weekend. This development resulted in an $8 million raise for the quarterback and gave the Patriots an extra $5.5 million in cap space, but it does little to clear up just how much longer Brady will play.
Brady has said before he hopes to play until he’s 45, which means he could stick around for another three or four years. He’s already defying logic with his elite performance at such an advanced age, though, so it’s hard to predict how much gas really is left in the tank. And there’s also no telling at this point how much longer Belichick intends to coach, although Wright seems convinced the 67-year-old will outlast Brady on New England’s sideline.
“I think it speaks to Belichick’s just universally accepted greatness that I think most people fully believe that if Brady were to retire this year, next year, whatever, the Patriots will still be right there in it,” Wright said. “But you say all the time, C, a great quarterback in this league, the great ones are worth three to four wins, something like that. And so even if Belichick makes it to where he can make a mediocre quarterback worth one to two wins, as opposed to the three to four. … I don’t think the Patriots era (will end), meaning like, ‘Alright, cross them off, now all of a sudden the Jets and (Sam) Darnold are going to run the division.’ I don’t believe that. But I think it is the (Brady/Belichick) combination that has made them the dominant force. I think it’s very, very tough without both of them.”
The 2019 campaign marks Brady’s 20th NFL season. The Patriots have been to nine Super Bowls with Brady and Belichick leading the charge, and they’re currently showing no signs of slowing down.
