Chris Simms doesn’t expect Tom Brady to follow in the footsteps of Joe Montana, Brett Favre or Peyton Manning.
Although Brady is entering the final year of his contract with the Patriots, Simms is very confident the six-time Super Bowl champion will remain with New England — the only organization he’s ever known — for the remainder of his NFL career.
“No freaking way is that happening. None,” Simms, a former NFL quarterback, said Thursday on NBC Sports’ “PFT Overtime” when asked by Mike Florio whether Brady will play for another team before calling it quits. “You can just put that on it, period. Right there. How about that one? Just period. It’s over. Don’t even worry about it.
“One, I think Tom Brady — everything he’s done in New England, his family being there, all of that, OK, and the New England way that you talk about. I don’t think he’d want to deal with another organization, because he’s just so used to the way things are done so remarkably well in New England that I think it would frustrate the hell out of him to go to somewhere else, which is gonna seem like almost second-rate to him.
“Two, you know this: He might as well be ‘Tom Kraft Brady.’ He’s part of the Kraft family. We heard Tom Curran say, he thinks Belichick’s gonna back off when it comes to negotiating the Brady thing and all that. I totally believe that. He probably is, he realizes this is a Kraft-Brady thing, he’s got nothing to do with this one and he’ll let them figure it out and just go, ‘OK, let’s do it.’ So I don’t think there’s any way (Brady leaves New England), Mike.”
Brady and the Patriots might be entering uncharted waters with regards to the quarterback’s contract, but it’s hard to imagine him playing elsewhere, especially since he’s still performing at such a high level going into his age-42 season. Thus, it wouldn’t be surprising if the sides agreed to an extension in the coming weeks or months.
Sure, the Patriots historically have moved on from aging players, regardless of their track record with the franchise. But Simms, who had a brief stint as a coaching assistant with New England, noted Brady’s relationship with Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and that’s obviously a very important component at play.
Brady, drafted in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft, is entering his 20th NFL season. While he endured some hiccups in 2018, he still elevated his game when the stakes were raised, guiding the Patriots to another title and further cementing his status as the greatest quarterback in NFL history.
