The football world anxiously awaits even a minor sense of direction as it pertains to Tom Brady’s future.
Well, Mike Florio and Peter King both seem to believe we won’t have to wait too long.
Brady is eligible to hit free agency for the first time in his career when the new NFL year opens March 18. The six-time Super Bowl champion will have a chance to communicate with all teams two days prior when the league’s legal tampering period begins.
And if Brady hasn’t reached a new deal with New England by that date, Florio believes it might signal the quarterback’s departure from Foxboro.
“There’s two phases,” Florio said on NBC Sports. “Is he going to go back to the Patriots? That’s phase one. I think as a practical matter, that’s the ship that has to sail before March the 16th. You either sign with the Patriots or you embark on the Reggie White, Peyton Manning free agency tour. I don’t think the Patriots are still in play once the boat is out of the harbor. Do you agree with me on that?”
“Probably,” King replied “Probably, but I’m just going to say this, Mike. I don’t think that in this particular case anything is set in stone, but I do have a pretty good feeling that we’ll probably get to March 12th or 13th and know if there’s any chance he’s going to go back to the Patriots.”
While this might come as unsettling to Patriots fans, they can take solace in the fact that Robert Kraft sure sounds motivated to keep Brady in the fold. The franchise owner weeks ago noted the organization plans to re-sign Brady, and Kraft effectively doubled down on that stance over the weekend.
Oh yeah, New England reportedly is willing to pay Brady upward of $30 million annually to keep him around.
