Curran: Brady 'almost certainly' gone before 2017

Bruins29 said:

As Andy mentioned, he is there now. Why would you think he needs to win post Brady to prove anything? Does that mean any coach with a legendary QB who won with that QB has to have done it with and without that QB?

You say "inarguably" he is not there.

BB needs 28 wins to have the 4th most all time in the regular season. 4 more seasons of 10 wins, which he should easily do and he will be 3rd all time surpassing Landry and surpassing him in 6 fewer seasons.

BB needs 2 playoff wins to be number 1 all time in the playoffs.
1 SB to tie the record for most superbowls

What else would have have to do to prove he is on the Mt Rushmore of coaches?

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I never grasp this sense that BB feels the need to prove he is something without Brady. The name of his boat is "V Rings". Brady was part of 3 of those rings. It is pretty clear that BB views the number of championships he has played a part in as his legacy, and could care less about the perception of others on those seasons. The notion that he would dump Brady, if Brady represents his best option to win, in order to prove he is a great coach rather than an okay coach who is the beneficiary of a great QB is just silly.

james87654 said:

i will admit that i posted this partly to get attention and be a contrarian......but Tom Curran has been one of Bradys biggest supporters and is already a well known and well respected sports guy.....you really think this is just a ploy on his part?......and if so, why would he do it?.......everybody already knows him and a lot of people follow him

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Curran may well be a dyed-in-the-wool homer, but he still writes what he is told to write. He gets general guidance, to be sure, but he isn't freelance and his editor always has the final say on how much, if anything Curran writes gets published, and what the angle will be. It's a business, and he's an employee. A good employee, mind you, but he still takes the King's shilling.

Jimmy G has been the storyline all through camp, from the time he was drafted and everyone went WTF? up through this last pre-season game. Thousands of words and mind-numbing speculation have cascaded upon the fan boards and the Patriots as the editors picked up the scent of a money-making story and opened up the sluice gate to let the speculation flow.

Media makes it's money through advertising. Anyone who thinks that paid subscriptions are more than chump change hasn't worked in media. The rates that any publication, site, blog, whatever, can charge for their advertising is directly related to the traffic it pulls in. Hits/clicks are everything, and when combined with demographics of those clicking, it lets the company not only set the price, but also determine which advertisers might do better with them.

So, we get crap like the :cheating" scandal, the "walkthrough" scandal" the "The Hate Their Coach!" FESPN crap, etc. It's why Borges is a twit, and Shaugnessy write the drivel he does. It's why Felger and Curran and all the rest go for the low-hanging fruit and pimp it as hard and long as possible.

Brady may well be gone in 2017, but as was commented upon earlier, I agree that he will leave on his own terms, and I doubt we'll see him in any other laundry and New England's. TFB might decide himself when it's time to retire, coach or Kraft might sit him down and have a heart-to-heart with him, heck, even his wife might finally say "enough!" But I suspect we'll know well enough in advance, when Brady calls that news conference about his future plans.

But this article by Curran is just speculation. Nothing wrong with that, but it's sole purpose is to rile up the fanbase and generate revenue to tide everyone over until the start of the season.

Oh, and expect a LOT more of the same craptacular stuff if Brady should falter AT ALL during the season.

Me? I've worn the laundry now for 40 years. Good seasons, and bag-over-the-head seasons. I'm greatful I've lived to see these Golden years, and I also expect to see some more with a new coach, and a new QB at some future point. Until then, I'm settled in and enjoying the ride.

As Jimmy Johnson so famously uttered several years ago, "Do you know what real football minds do when the hear someone mention Spygate seriously? They giggle."

james87654 said:

"Brady will be gone when Brady wants to go."......

You think Kraft will overrule BB if it comes to that in 3 years?.......I don't

just my opinion

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Could you straighten out the picture behind your desk, take another pick and make a new avatar? I'm off my meds and that crooked picture is driving me nuts.

Brady may* be gone in 2017, but I have my doubts. Brady prepares for more facets of staying sharp and healthy than any previous player ever. Peyton proved last year that a cerebral QB can dominate, even with a noodle arm. As Brady has shown in his last contract, he is willing to lower his salary in exchange for guaranteed money and longevity. If Brady stays relatively healthy, he could play at a high level until 45 at a bargain price.

2017 is 3 full football seasons from now. Tom Brady will be 40 then. The link below provides some perspective on the realities of a 40 year old QB.

The Top Five 40-Year-Old QBs in NFL History | Bleacher Report

In NFL history, there has been exactly one "elite" season produced by a 40 year old QB. Soon after that, we hit 2004 Vinny Testaverde territory. Brady has earned the benefit of the doubt that he can produce until 40. After that, father time wins. If Brady is a productive starting QB in 4 years, he will be the oldest productive QB in league history.

The suggestion that, by 2017, Garroppolo, may be equal to or better than Brady is not as sacrilegious as we're making it out to be.

I said right after the draft that the 2016 offseason could be the moment we never think will happen could happen. Brady becomes tradeable in 2016 due to his contract.

Garoppolo entering his third season may be just as good a QB as a 39 year old Brady. What do we think BB will do then?*

I still think Brady ends his career taking over for Kaepernick's failures in San Fran for his hometown team.*

*If Garoppolo isn't the real deal, this is all moot. But everything pre-draft about his elite qualities showed in the preseason games. In two years he may be a top 10 QB.

This is kind of based on nothing so we will have to wait and see

When there's QBs like Kaepernick & Flacco earning what they do, Brady would have to decline massively to become not worth his contract.

Total click bait article just like one his new buddy Florio would make.

BB and TB both will be gone by 2017

Tom Brady will retire from the Patriots when he is ready, he will not be pushed out the door. Curran is overacting to a decent preseason by a rookie QB and the fact Belichick traded an aging and overpaid OG that less than 5 years ago held out and called the Patriots liars.

Belichick is a great coach, he does many things very well but he has achieved nothing in head coaching career without Tom Brady, and frankly there is nothing to suggest he would, last season the Patriots would have went 3-13 without Brady out there, maybe 4-12 at best. Look at the schedule and the win margin – http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nwe/2013.htm. They would have won against Tampa, Baltimore, and Buffalo maybe at Pittsburg, outside of that they would have lost, I can almost guarantee it, I cannot even believe this is being suggested by Curran. Brady is underpaid and the best at what he does, if Belichick wanted to move away from that my level of admiration for him would drop to null.

I do not want to hear about 2008 either, because that team won 5 less games than it did the year before with essentially the same roster, actually some improvements in certain areas and players like Moss and Welker with a second year in the system. If you shave 5 wins off are records over the past 5 years we would have went –

2013 – 7-9
2012 – 7-9
2011 – 8-8
2010 – 9-7
2009 – 5-11

I am losing a lot of respect for Curran lately, he used to be a solid reporter, now he is becoming the US Weekly of football reporting.

If Brady is still a top QB, he will play out his contract if not longer. Some of this reactionary negativity by the media after the Mankins trade is just ridiculous.

I hear the media talking out of both sides of their mouth on the Mankins trade. "Yeah, Mankins stunk in the passing game and Brady was sacked more than any time other than early in his career, but he was a dominant run blocker" while all they ever talk about is that it really doesn't matter who the RB is because it is a passing league. So if it is a passing league and Mankins can't block in the passing game, maybe that is why he was traded.

For all this talk about how the Pats dump whatever player who gets old, people (especially the media) forget guys like Bruschi, Troy, Faulk, Light, and others played out their career as Patriots. It isn't like they dump every player once they get old.

I am still waiting for that imminent Mallet trade Curran reported.

Wow the clairvoyance of that article is amazing. Really? He might not be here in 2017? Just another obvious prediction for Curran.

ctpatsfan77 said:

Last I checked, BB works for Kraft, not the other way around, and Kraft needs to sign off on all trades.

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I suspect the relationship is more complex and has multiple layers.

This is just another non-story created by the mediots to create clicks and drive the fans to their site to complain. Think about it. This is already a 5 page thread here for predicting something that MIGHT happen 4 years from now. How lame can you get, though it did produce a great post by Gwedd.

Here are the undisputed facts. As long as Tom is playing at a high level, he will be the QB of the New England Patriots. When his isn't, he won't. When that occurs will be up to the laws of nature and the strength of Brady's arm and legs. Trying to predict the inevitable is about as hopeless as predicting the next honest thing to come out of out of Vladimir Putin's lips.

Brady6 said:

Belichick is a great coach, he does many things very well but he has achieved nothing in head coaching career without Tom Brady, and frankly there is nothing to suggest he would . . . .

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Right. Because the Browns didn't consistently improve after the 3-13 start the year before he arrived. And the core of the team he built didn't win the Super Bowl as the Ravens in 2000. The Browns lost to the AFC camps in the playoffs in 1994, and were predicted to contend for a title in 1995 until Modell derailed the season with a move to Baltimore. But sure, BB had nothing to do with the elite coaching staff constructed then and pretty much bumbled his way to that success. Watch the episode of A Football Life on the Cleveland Browns and tell me how little he did himself for that team after that education. If by 'nothing' you mean no titles, then pretty much any Hall of Fame coach would not measure up as great by your logic.

You can tie single great players to pretty much any great coach. Vince Lombardi had Bart Starr for every NFL success he enjoyed, so why is the Super Bowl trophy named after that chump? He did nothing without Starr.

patsinthesnow said:

Brady becomes tradeable in 2016 due to his contract.

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He becomes tradeable on June 2, 2015. A trade then would save space on both the 2015 and 2016 cap.

jmt57 said:

Wait, I thought Brady was supposed to most certainly be gone by now because the Patriots used a third round draft pick on a QB in 2011.

I'm sensing déjà vu.

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To be fair, there's a difference here. JAG is the first high round QB drafted in the BB Era who doesn't plainly suck from day 1.

Patradomous said:

Brady will be asked to take a substantial pay cut. Especially if his skills are beginning to diminish. He will be cut. For good or bad its the Patriot way.
Jimmy G. already looks better than any QB 2nd to Brady since Brady been the #1qb. You can tell he has the it factor. Very cool and elusive in the pocket. He will have Brady's skill level in two years just not the head or experience. But he will be his replacement.

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I guess he would have been smart to trade some cap relief now for substantial increase in guaranteed money so they won't be able to save much by cutting him. Oh wait...