Patriots fans could not wait for Tom Brady to return to Gillette Stadium during the 2021 season, and now with the quarterback’s long-term future announced, some are hoping another return to New England is in the cards.
FOX Sports announced Tuesday morning that Brady will serve as the network’s No. 1 analyst when he decides to call it a career on the gridiron. FOX reportedly will pay Brady an astounding $37.5 million per year over a 10-year span, which would be more than double CBS Sports’ Tony Romo and ESPN’s Troy Aikman.
Brady’s short-term arrival to the booth isn’t exactly set in stone given that Brady, who retired earlier this offseason, announced his return to the Buccaneers for the 2022 campaign. The Patriots signal-caller for two decades, however, has said he wants to play until he’s 45 years old and enters his age-45 season. It’s caused some to speculate this could be his last campaign and thus an arrival at FOX starts for the 2023 season.
One way or the other, though, when that time does come, NFL analyst Rich Eisen wants Brady’s broadcast debut to be at Patriot Place. And he wants it there specifically because it would mean Brady would have to get reacquainted with head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Mac Jones.
“As you know, there are production meetings before the games that the broadcasters take part in where they meet with the coaches and the quarterbacks,” Eisen said during his “Rich Eisen Show” on Tuesday, as transcribed by WEEI. “I can only hope that when Brady does retire, the first game on FOX is at New England … where he’s in the booth there in New England, and he has a production meeting with (Bill) Belichick and Mac Jones.”
Unfortunately for Eisen and other Patriots fans who wish that come true, the fact CBS (not FOX) typically gets prime-time games involving AFC teams makes it feel a bit unlikely. But given what FOX just paid Brady, it shouldn’t surprise anybody if the network opted to make an offer to ensure he’s on the call at Gillette sometime in the future.
