The Patriots reportedly are willing to open up their wallet and then some to keep Tom Brady in New England.
Nick Wright, however, believes this would not be money well spent by Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick and Co.
A report surfaced Sunday indicating the Patriots are open to paying Brady, who’s eligible to hit the open market in mid-March, upward of $30 million per season. A deal with those figures would position Brady among the highest-paid quarterbacks in the league, a billing he’s never held over the past two decades despite being arguably the best to ever play the position.
But purely based on what we saw from Brady over the course of the 2019 campaign, Wright believes the Patriots should not break the bank for TB12.
“Would $30 million a year be a mistake? Obviously,” Wright said Tuesday on FS1’s “First Things First.” “We watched the games last year, we did. We saw him. We saw Tom Brady look like an average-ish quarterback. We saw Tom Brady against every good defense he faced struggle enormously. We saw the New England Patriots unable to win a home playoff game in a game that ended on a pick-six. Right? We saw all that happen? We saw that Bill Belichick, when he was asked nine months prior, ‘Do you want to extend Tom Brady?’ when he was coming off a championship and one year removed from a league MVP. Then he said ‘Nah, I’m good. I’ll give you a bit of a raise and I’ll remove the ability for us to franchise you, but I’m not signing up for age-43-plus of Tom Brady, sight unseen.’ But now it’s sight seen and the sight wasn’t that pretty.”
Would the Patriots be making a mistake paying Tom Brady $30M to stay in New England?
"Obviously. We watched the games. We saw Tom Brady look like an average-ish QB. We saw Tom Brady, against every good defense he faced, struggle enormously." — @getnickwright pic.twitter.com/9Xn6STwTah
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) February 4, 2020
Fortunately for the Patriots, who currently aren’t flush with salary-cap space, Brady reportedly is not demanding $30 million. Although the future Hall of Famer reportedly is not open to taking another hometown discount, his top priority is being surrounded by a strong supporting cast, per a report from NFL Network’s Michael Giardi. Committing north of $30 million to Brady, of course, would hinder New England’s effort to bolster its offense this offseason.
It remains to be seen how much money the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders would be willing to pay Brady, but both teams reportedly are prepared to make a push for TB12 if he reaches free agency.
