Is Brady Entering his final year?

[Ring 6]

As a 31 year season ticket holder, I hope you are right & I am wrong.

I am sure you also thought they were going to cut Lawyer Milloy, & trade Richard Seymore & Logan Mankins.

The one thing I have learned over the years with Belichick, is he is smart and unpredictable.

Only time will tell for sure, but I respect your opinion.

It's not a matter of hope it's a matter of sound decision making.
Using examples of players being traded to imply another will be traded without recognizing they are not the same is foolhardy.

Brady is not a player in decline who needs to take a pay cut due to the cap and refuses like milloy.
Brady is not a player whose contract is up next year and is asking for drastically more than the team will be willing to pay. Like Seymour.
Brady is not a player who has significantly declined and is paid way more than his remaining value. Like Mankins.
When Brady is any of those things then his career here may well be over. But now he is not so it's ridiculous think the currently best player on the league will be treated like any run if the mill guy.

He isn't staying because of what he did, he is staying because of what he will still do.

 

[Ring 6]

How this team handles Brady might be my breaking point as far as being a fan. 32 years of rooting for them with all my heart. If they do wrong by Brady I'll be at a crossroads.

Here's a question that's harder for me to answer than I realize. The Patriots trade Brady to any team. The following year that team comes to Foxboro to play the Pats. Who do you root for?

Forget all the Kraft drama, forget everything. I think I'd have a hard time not rooting for Tom.

You have to take a step back and look at this.
Forget all the idiotic posts about cutting brady or trading him so that you can clear the way for JAG.
Brady will be fine playing QB here when he is no longer the best QB we can out on the field. (And probably it will not even be close by the time that realization happens). That is how it should be.

All this crap about BB thinks this or BB thinks that is people who don't know what they are talking about trying to act like they do.


What does BB ALWAYS say WITHOUT FAIL.
He will do what is best for the football team.
Getting rid of Tom Brady when he can play at the level he can, or even a number of steps down us never going to be what's best for the team.

I trust that BB will do what's best for the team. That means making this hard decision if Brady doesn't first.
But right now it's not even close to a hard decision so there is no debate what he is going to do.

The negative facet of this is that we have reached the point where the potential for Brady to take a large step down exists and will only continue to increase.

He won't keep his job because of what he has done. He will keep it for what he will still do.
Until something drastically changes he will be your QB and when the time comes I think we will all realize it's time.

 

[Tony2046]

I think Tom comes down a few pegs without Belichick and Mcdaniels tutelage that's not any kind of slight against Brady but do you think Brady with say Rex Ryan or Mike Tomlin beats Grap with Belichick?
I don't and I love Tom I named my first born after him.
But I'm a big picture kind of guy the second Grap is a clear upgrade over Brady if that ever happens you need to make the toughest decision in my opinion any Professional sports team had to made.

I think that would have been true a decade ago but Brady understands defenses and how to read them at an elite level. Brady going to another team would require him to develop a chemistry with his offensive teammates which he has done here over and over again. If Brady went to a defensively strong team, e.g. the Texans, it would become a SB favorite instantly.

Would the Texans with Brady beat BB and JG? Who knows but that would be a tough game.

The difference between a good QB and a great one can be a matter of a few decisions made per game 19 games a year. Can JG do that?

 

[Ring 6]

BB learned from kosar situation. Brady will get chance to leave on own terms

Learned what? That he was right?

 

[mosslost]

I couldn't agree more.

IMO, it's not about age; it's about success. When you have the Greatest Player Of All Time leading his team deep into the playoffs year after year after year, you play him for as long as you can. Period.

Given how important the QB position is to success, they back him up with the best insurance available and keep doing it. When Brissett is ready they'll trade JG for whatever they can get for him.

I take Tom at his word. He is consumed by playing football. He loves it in the stable New England system and will play here until he cannot!

Meanwhile, I am savoring every game he plays and am assuming his successor is still in high school.

>>IMO, it's not about age; it's about success. When you have the Greatest Player Of All Time leading his team deep into the playoffs year after year after year, you play him for as long as you can. Period.

It's also the 12 plus regular season wins every year too.

 

[bbobbo]

Learned what? That he was right?

he learned that you have to be sensitive to players that have achieved a certain status with the fanbase. from The Education of a Coach:

You can be right, but sometimes when you are right you are wrong, too, which is what happened in Cleveland. There was no doubt that Belichick was right, that Kosar had essentially come to the end of his career, and that in any big game, a skilled defensive coach with a competent team could feast off Kosar’s weaknesses. But the brutality of the way it was done was unacceptable. Years later, Belichick faulted himself on the way he had handled it. He left those passionate local fans who might have agreed with him no place to go. He thought he was just doing his job, but he had been mistaken; he had defined his job too narrowly.

 

[Ring 6]

he learned that you have to be sensitive to players that have achieved a certain status with the fanbase. from The Education of a Coach:

He was still right to bench Kosar.
What he is saying is if he could do it again he would have kept him on the team the rest of the year in the bench.
Nothing at all comparable to Brady until Brady reaches the point where he sucks and you have to be gracious about the benching and exit.

 

[fnordcircle]

What does BB ALWAYS say WITHOUT FAIL.
He will do what is best for the football team.

No doubt, and I get that. Belichick has an obligation to the owner but I think, probably even moreso, he feels an obligation to his players as a group. You can't watch them train their hearts out and then saddle them with an inferior player as a starter.

But if there's one person who transcends this, for me, it is Brady. If there's one person who deserves to set his own terms - it is Tom Brady.

I'm not saying we have to cave in and play him until he's a detriment to the team. What I'm saying is that he has earned a lot of leeway in terms of applying the 'cut them early vs too late' approach it is Tom Brady. When it's time for Tom to leave I believe he's earned the right to be given a lot of say in where he lands, to the extent that I'd rather see the team cut Tom so he can go to the team of his choosing rather than maximizing value and trading him to some ****hole willing to give us top value in exchange for an injection of fan excitement.

So, again, it really all comes down to how I perceive the team handling Brady during this transition, whenever it happens. If he's treated with due respect and deference that the greatest of all time deserves, then I'll remain a fan. I'll just be cutting a lot of onions.

If he gets the Kosar treatment....

 

[bbobbo]

He was still right to bench Kosar.
What he is saying is if he could do it again he would have kept him on the team the rest of the year in the bench.
Nothing at all comparable to Brady until Brady reaches the point where he sucks and you have to be gracious about the benching and exit.

i wasn't disagreeing with you. i don't agree with the line of thought that belichick will just trade brady once he starts to show signs of decline.
.

 

[XLIX]

Well it's common sense that when your QB is 40 years old you value your backup more.

Common sense may apply to common quarterbacks but not the greatest of all time.

Tell us, which QB got injured last year after about 90 minutes and which QB played 15 games?

There is a "cost" in keeping every player.

Lame analogy. By several reports, NE was offered a first rounder plus for Garoppolo. So the opportunity cost of keeping him is higher than pretty much anyone else on the team (Brady himself would bring in more in trade, but there isn't exactly a long list of other players on the team who would).

 

[bigballas]

do you think Brady with say Rex Ryan or Mike Tomlin beats Grap with Belichick?.

100% YES. (presuming Brady is on the Bills or Steelers this coming/past year)

 

[Kontradiction]

How this team handles Brady might be my breaking point as far as being a fan. 32 years of rooting for them with all my heart. If they do wrong by Brady I'll be at a crossroads.

Here's a question that's harder for me to answer than I realize. The Patriots trade Brady to any team. The following year that team comes to Foxboro to play the Pats. Who do you root for?

Forget all the Kraft drama, forget everything. I think I'd have a hard time not rooting for Tom.

You say this now but, when the rubber hits the road in your hypothetical, I think you'd end up rooting for the Pats. Especially if they look like they're about to beat him. What WOULD probably happen is that you would feel a source of pride for Brady, were his team to win, and would not be that disappointed in the loss.

Or you'd just root for Brady.

 

[Ring 6]

Common sense may apply to common quarterbacks but not the greatest of all time.

???
So the common sense that when your QB is old his backup is more important doesn't matter for the GOAT? Care to explain that one?

Tell us, which QB got injured last year after about 90 minutes and which QB played 15 games?

What is your point?
Garapollo got injured so we should move on and turn the team over to brisset if Brady gets injured or his age catches up to him?

Lame analogy.

Umm that wasn't an analogy.

By several reports, NE was offered a first rounder plus for Garoppolo. So the opportunity cost of keeping him is higher than pretty much anyone else on the team (Brady himself would bring in more in trade, but there isn't exactly a long list of other players on the team who would).

Well reports really prove nothing but even if they did, so what?

Whatever he would bring BB (correctly) judged that the value he provides as backup and successor in the event Brady decides to retire or had a career ending injury this year (or the unlikely event that his skills erode drastically) is worth more than getting what was offered now instead of whatvwill be offered next year.

It's kind of simple actually.

 

[deroc5050]

If I was forced to make a bet with a gun pointed to my head, I would say Brady's last season is 2017/2018 season. Although I wouldn't want to take that bet willingly.

My simple reasoning is he will be 41 years old when they need to make the move.

Honestly I have no clue what the Pats are going to do. But that would be my guess.

 

[Huckleberry1]

I think Tom comes down a few pegs without Belichick and Mcdaniels tutelage that's not any kind of slight against Brady but do you think Brady with say Rex Ryan or Mike Tomlin beats Grap with Belichick?
I don't and I love Tom I named my first born after him.
But I'm a big picture kind of guy the second Grap is a clear upgrade over Brady if that ever happens you need to make the toughest decision in my opinion any Professional sports team had to made.

If Brady doesn't believe he's good enough to be the starter he will retire, he's not going to hang on just for the sake of it. Right now he is the best player in the league, and everyone who doesn't have a boner for Jimmy Garrapolo understands this, so there is absolutely no reason to look seriously at replacing him.

 

[Ring 6]

If I was forced to make a bet with a gun pointed to my head, I would say Brady's last season is 2017/2018 season. Although I wouldn't want to take that bet willingly.

My simple reasoning is he will be 41 years old when they need to make the move.

Honestly I have no clue what the Pats are going to do. But that would be my guess.

41 and the best QB in the NFL. What do you propose they do? Tell him thanks for another great season but we are going to let you go because your backup wants to play more than a game and a half for the first time in 5 years and we think he is worth more than you?

 

[cupofjoe1962]

It's not a matter of hope it's a matter of sound decision making.
Using examples of players being traded to imply another will be traded without recognizing they are not the same is foolhardy.

Brady is not a player in decline who needs to take a pay cut due to the cap and refuses like milloy.
Brady is not a player whose contract is up next year and is asking for drastically more than the team will be willing to pay. Like Seymour.
Brady is not a player who has significantly declined and is paid way more than his remaining value. Like Mankins.
When Brady is any of those things then his career here may well be over. But now he is not so it's ridiculous think the currently best player on the league will be treated like any run if the mill guy.

He isn't staying because of what he did, he is staying because of what he will still do.

So we are keeping Garoppalo for 1 more year as a backup & then we franchise him and trade him?

Is that what you believe will happen with Garoppalo!

I would think a 41 year old Brady (his age in the 2018) season would need Garoppalo as much if not more than the 40 year old 2017 Brady.

The trade return would have been much higher trading Garoppalo before this season than franchising him & trading him before next (2018) season.

 

[Huckleberry1]

If I was forced to make a bet with a gun pointed to my head, I would say Brady's last season is 2017/2018 season. Although I wouldn't want to take that bet willingly.

My simple reasoning is he will be 41 years old when they need to make the move.

Honestly I have no clue what the Pats are going to do. But that would be my guess.

So he has gotten better at 37-38-39 but this is the year of Kellerman's Cliff so he will be all washed up.

 

[deroc5050]

41 and the best QB in the NFL. What do you propose they do? Tell him thanks for another great season but we are going to let you go because your backup wants to play more than a game and a half for the first time in 5 years and we think he is worth more than you?

I freely admit I wouldn't want to make the decision. But 41 years old is 41 years old. From Bills point of view Brady has 3 years left of top shelf level play. So "if" Bill thinks JG is going to be a good/very good QB and you have to make the decision to keep Brady for 2 more seasons after this one or move on to a younger QB that could keep the franchise in contention for another 10+ years.. I think Bill would go with JG.

But I don't know ****.. and like I said I wouldn't want to make that decision. Can you really see Brady at 43/44 years old still tearing up the NFL? I can't but anything is possible.

 

[Ring 6]

So we are keeping Garoppalo for 1 more year as a backup & then we franchise him and trade him?

Is that what you believe will happen with Garoppalo!

I would think a 41 year old Brady (his age in the 2018) season would need Garoppalo as much if not more than the 40 year old 2017 Brady.

The trade return would have been much higher trading Garoppalo before this season than franchising him & trading him before next (2018) season.

His contract is up. You can't tag him to be the backup that is nuts.
No idea what the trade difference will be but it's worth the insurance as a backup this year and safety plan if something goes wrong with Brady in the next 9 months.

It's certainly a better plan than dumping the GOAT for an unproven backup.