Michael Silver seems to believe the writing is on the wall in New England.
The story of Tom Brady’s impending free agency dates back to last summer. Brady and the Patriots came to terms on a new deal much later in the calendar year than they normally do, and it ultimately resulted in a de facto one-year contract. Now, Brady will be able to test the open market for the first time in his career when the new NFL year begins in mid-March.
Silver believes those contract negotiations speak volumes when it comes to where Brady’s head is at.
“Well, Tom Brady is free for a reason. He’s free because he got frustrated before the season with contract negotiations and asked to be free,” Silver recently said on NFL Network’s “The Aftermath.” “So I put the Patriots in 32nd place right now. Things can change, but I think he wants out of there.”
Silver continued: “I honestly believe there’s a better chance than not that Tom Brady not only wants to be wooed, but that he will ultimately connect with one of these teams. You look at it from a marketing perspective — Chargers, the Raiders moving into Vegas. You look at it from a football respective, a team like the Colts or the Titans if they can’t come to terms with Ryan Tannehill, where a quarterback in his position would have some infrastructure. Very, very interesting. It’s going to be a fascinating couple of months.”
We hope Silver is speaking hyperbolically here, as it would be asinine to suggest New England has the worst odds of any team in the league to sign Brady in the coming months. While Silver appears to be of the mindset the short-term deal was Brady’s request, who’s to say it wasn’t the Patriots’ preference as well? After all, it’s tough to heavily invest in a 42-year-old, even one who’s amassed unprecedented success.
Given the anomaly that is Brady, a “wait and see” approach really was the only one for New England to take. Now that the franchise knows Father Time hasn’t completely come for the six-time Super Bowl champion just yet, one has to imagine it will look into retaining him. And if New England’s plan for 2020 meets Brady’s satisfaction, a continued marriage wouldn’t be utterly surprising.
