Will Tom Brady be on the New England Patriots in 2020? The members of ESPN’s “First Take” all have their own opinions on the matter.
Patriots fans probably are getting tired of the back-and-forth on whether Brady will be the quarterback of the team next season, hoping that an answer comes sooner rather than later. Stephen A. Smith’s thoughts on the topic are sure to ease fans a bit who fears the departure of Brady.
“Listen, here’s my deal,” Smith said Monday on ESPN. “I don’t know what the hell is going on with the Patriots and Tom Brady right now, but as the weeks go by it just appears to make sense that Tom Brady will remain in a New England Patriots uniform. Could he go to the Chargers? Yeah, you can make an argument about that because they’ve got talent. But we continuously point to what the league has become. How athletic and big and fast these defensive players are. And how a stationary quarterback might not work to their advantage. Philip Rivers was a stationery quarterback. He was a pocket passer who could throw the football but obviously he clearly lost a step and they wanted to move in a different direction. So why get Tom Brady? Unless of course, you think that Tom Brady, at age 42 going on 43 years of age, is just going to sell tickets in Los Angeles. Like suddenly because Tom Brady is there for eight weeks out of the year.”
Smith expounded on why he believes the Chargers are not a good fit for Brady.
“Oh, by the way, this is for a team that isn’t even the most popular team in L.A.,” Smith said. “This is for a Chargers organization that has literally come in front of the microphone and said quote, ‘We play 16 road games a year. We know it, we just have to deal with it.’ And Tom Brady alone at this stage and point in his career is going to make that difference? I don’t believe so. That’s number one. Number two, from a system perspective, we know how to system. And him with Belichick, and him playing under Josh McDaniels has worked for him. And we also know Mr. Kraft still loves him. Number three, what does all of this mean? All you got to do is get out there and get him a couple of players. Because the reality of the situation is that I’m not saying that Tom Brady hasn’t dropped off a little bit. But I think that the precipice drop that everybody, not everybody, but a lot of people keep trying to highlight. I think it’s a bit extreme. I think that he’s been dealt an unfair hand. I think that they were bereft of talent. They are sorely lacking in a lot of areas on the offensive side of the ball and I don’t think anybody is doing him any justice. As it pertains to what he had to deal with. To know he’s 42 years of age. To know he’s 42 and immobile. Even when he was younger, he was immobile. But especially now. And to put him out there with this last year, that he had to work with. I thought it was a disservice to Tom Brady and I am getting sick and tired of people ignoring that.”
To hear more from Smith, Max Kellerman, and Dan Orlovsky, watch the video below:
It’s hard to disagree with much of what Smith is saying. Patriots fans are going to hope he is right on this one.
