Brian Westbrook doesn’t seem to be buying the latest reports on Tom Brady’s NFL future.
ESPN’s Jeff Darlington indicated Thursday he’d be “stunned” if Brady returned to New England, while the Boston Herald’s Karen Guregian noted the Patriots have yet to reach out to Brady and that a new deal before the start of free agency “isn’t looking good.” Westbrook, however, believes there’s a reason Brady’s future in Foxboro is looking bleak, and that the narrative soon could change.
“I think there’s a 75 percent chance that Tom Brady returns back to New England, but here’s the reason why: he hasn’t had the conversation with Bill Belichick,” Westbrook said Friday on FS1’s “First Things First.” “I had a bunch of conversations with Andy Reid and when I went into that office — we’re in the middle of negotiations and I had my agent talking to (former Philadelphia Eagles president) Joe Banner, I had my agent talking to the owner — but when I had the conversation with Andy Reid, man to man, that’s when the deal got done. Not the agent, it was just me and Andy Reid. … It was a conversation between the player and the coach. I think at some point Tom Brady is going to have a conversation with Bill Belichick and Bill Belichick’s gonna say, ‘Listen, Tom, I can pay you $30 (million), I can pay you $29 (million),’ whatever that number is and Tom is going to have to say no to the man he’s been with for the last 19 years.”
"There's a 75% chance Brady returns to New England. When I had a conversation w/ Andy Reid, man to man, that's when the deal got done. Brady's going to have a conversation w/ Belichick … & Tom's going to have to say 'No' to the man that he's been w/ for 19 years." —@36westbrook pic.twitter.com/AAqdqJKFk8
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) February 28, 2020
While it’s been reported a one-on-one conversation between Brady and Belichick could decide the quarterback’s future with the Patriots, we probably should take Westbrook’s sentiment with a grain of salt. Not because the former running back isn’t a credible source, but we’re dealing with vastly different situations here. Belichick and Reid have different methods of operations, and Brady and Westbrook are on different tiers, to say the least.
At this point, we probably shouldn’t put too much stock in anything anyone says about Brady’s next step. We’ll just have to wait until the future Hall of Famer actually signs on the dotted line.
