Tom Brady might never play for a team other than the New England Patriots.
But if he did, where would he go?
That hypothetical question was floated Friday on ESPN’s “First Take,” and Will Cain identified three potential landing spots should Brady leave the Patriots at some point before retiring: the Tennessee Titans, the New York Giants and the Oakland Raiders.
As Cain explained: the Titans are coached by Brady’s former teammate, Mike Vrabel, and soon will need to make a decision regarding quarterback Marcus Mariota. The Giants are based just outside of New York, where Brady and his wife, Gisele Bundchen, reportedly have been house hunting, and they could opt to make a splash with Eli Manning’s career winding down despite choosing Duke product Daniel Jones with the sixth overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. And the Raiders don’t appear to be fully committed to Derek Carr with Jon Gruden running things ahead of the franchise’s move to Las Vegas.
This isn’t to say Brady definitely will leave New England, the only organization he’s known since being selected in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. But the 42-year-old’s year-to-year contract situation with the Patriots has raised some eyebrows, as Brady theoretically could become a free agent next offseason.
“I think the market for Tom Brady, even at age 42, 43, would be huge,” Cain said. “I think he’d get top dollar, and I think there would be numerous teams in to go in for one or two years of Tom Brady.”
Again, Cain was speaking in hypotheticals, simply predicting how the situation would play out if Brady and the Patriots ever come to a fork in the road based on the quarterback’s individual goals and the team’s goals. Brady has said he’d like to play until he’s 45, but the Patriots have a track record of valuing future performance over past production when it comes to personnel decisions, making this particular dynamic incredibly intriguing.
For what it’s worth, Ryan Clark, a former NFL safety who appeared alongside Cain on Friday’s “First Take” episode, refused to take the bait, instead suggesting Brady’s next destination whenever he leaves New England will be the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
