Brady does take hts in the pocket, however during most of the career of the 'other guys' they would have to get out of bounds or take a big hit, Brady usually slides and avoids the hit when he 'runs'.
He also doesn't take the 'late hits' that were legal for most of the time when the 'other guys' played.
One would hope that Brady is Warren Moon in his later years.
Moon? If you're looking to pick a positive example of a contemporary QB who played at a high level past 39 you'd better stick to Lord Favregaard, who rocked it at the age of 40 and then retired a year later after a kind of surreal, up and down final season.
Moon started a total of 11 games in his last three years, throwing one TD (total) in his final two seasons. The last season in which he played at a HOF level was 1995, six years before his 2000 final season. He put up two fantastic seasons at ages 38 and 39 (the 1995 season) but didn't rise to that level for his last five years in the League, rarely starting over his last three years.
What I take away from all of this is that it's no accident that the average retirement age of SB-era HOF QB's is 37.5.
It's rare but possible to play at a very high level over the course of a full season at 38 (Elway, Favre, Montana and Moon) and even at 39 (Favre, Moon) and 40 (Favre). But beyond that, it hasn't happened.
Let's take a closer look at the other SB-era,HOF QB's who played until they were 40 or older.
Dawson retired at 40, but started a total of 19 games over his last three years.
Jurgensen retired at 40, but started a total of 13 games over his final four seasons.
Johnny U retired at 40, but started a total of 14 games over his final three seasons.
Moon and Favre were discussed above.
Sure, any of those guys, even for a handful of games in his declining years, is worth a lot more than an average QB.
But, with what we know now about the long term effects of the beating these warriors take week in and out, if I were a friend of a guy contemplating this decision today, I'd have to advise him to think long and hard about his quality of life at the age of 50 and beyond and then weigh that against how greatly he still might want to continue competing.