There are a lot of assumptions in here that are flawed or just plain wrong.
Under his old deal, Brady wouldn’t have been able to move on easily, because the Patriots would have been loath to pay the guaranteed money were they to release their longtime quarterback. They would have only gotten out from underneath the base salaries if Brady retired or if the team traded Brady.
Yes, and since no less than 20 teams would trade something for Brady - including every team that would have been willing to sign him as a free agent - this is a complete non issue.
Brady likely sees that and remembers the story of Logan Mankins, who went from being the starting guard on a Super Bowl–caliber team to serving as the starting guard on a 2-14 Buccaneers team that was out of the playoff race for three months. Or Richard Seymour, who was dispatched out of nowhere to a 5-11 Raiders team in 2009.
Spoken like a true Giant fan. Mankins and Seymour had acrimonious contact talks and strained relationships even after those were resolved. There is no way Brady would have been unceremoniously dumped on some barren wasteland of a team. If a trade were ever commenced, Tom almost certainly would have a lot of say in where he wants to go. And since every team willing to sign him would also be willing to trade for him, you are talking about the same collection of teams.
Rumors suggested that Brady was concerned about his future with the team in October.
Yes, rumors that have been thoroughly debunked.
Most importantly, though, Bill knows as well as anyone how much QBs command on the open market. Brady will have to drop off substantially to make him not worth his current contract. For god's sake, Alex Smith makes more than he does! Even if it were all guaranteed, Tom would be just as tradable as he is now, with the only exception being if he gets hurt which is still guaranteed under the restructure.
Stick with the facts, Bill.
