PFT: Brady "Unlikely" to Retire

primetime · Jan 5, 2020

skinnydog said:
And McDaniels is likely to sign one or two of the free agents.

I think Thuney is definitely gone, he plays a position that's not really at a premium and will be overpaid as an ex-Patriot lineman and second team All Pro, and if Andrews is fine to play next year then Karras is a readymade replacement. Collins can also probably safely go.

Van Noy is probably the most important of the free agents to bring back. He's a huge part of the defense and it's pretty clear a lot of the defense runs from Belichick through him. But it wouldn't shock me to see a Patriots assistant bidding war between the Lions, Dolphins, and Browns (or whoever McDaniels ends up with) for his services that simply gets too rich for the Patriots.

Slater will be back and it's hard to see McCourty leaving.

Geezer Butler · Jan 5, 2020

PatsFan2 said:
IF I was Brady I wouldn't come back to this Untalented Team on the Offensve side of the ball. We have no real threat at WR: Zero TE's and a Second year First Round RB who's just average. Brady needs to go to a Team with a good supporting cast. Not a Team with Harry and Sanu who can't get separation. Brady has Two years left Tops I wouldn't waste them here. Too bad we Drafted poorly in a good Draft year. We still need WR's and TE's: Brady ain't wasting his Final years with Rookies and I wouldn't blame him.

Let me explain a little thing called the "offseason" in sports. You see, teams can make moves and sign what they call "players" to the team to improve it from year to year. You might want to research this topic.

dustcover · Jan 5, 2020

" See if Brady will come back on an incentive laden deal"

To even consider or offer Brady an incentive contract would be a monumental insult to the face of the franchise over the past 20 years. Any such notion would surely prompt Brady to just turn and walk out the door and rightly so. You might as well offer to let him carry the clipboard while he tutors Stidham!

Geezer Butler · Jan 5, 2020

primetime said:
I think Brady will be back with the Patriots and will continue to be back until he announces "this will be my last season." I'm not sure this is a good thing -- despite occasional moments looking like he did a few seasons ago, I think Brady was pretty bad this year independent of the struggles of his supporting cast, and he looked completely disinterested in the end -- but I think it's what will happen.

I'm more concerned about what's around Brady and whether they'll be priced out on Thuney, Van Noy, and McCourty. The defense will still be extremely good and even a diminished Brady can still win as a caretaker QB.

He looked great until that elbow injury, lost his accuracy after that and most of the receivers not knowing where to be didn't help.

skinnydog · Jan 5, 2020

TommyBrady12 said:
See Malcolm Butler threads circa February 2018...

I get people, including me, were pissed about the Butler benching in the SB, but I don't remember people jumping off bridges about the overall team.

Triumph · Jan 5, 2020

dannydyn said:
As I said dozens of times here, Brady is 43 this year. He has made enough money, he's not chasing money. He's chasing Lombardis.

And, NFL passing records. He has 2 more years to get it done.

dannydyn said:
He's not uprooting his whole family to another state just to make a few more dollars. He knows he needs Belichick, his system, and Kraft as leverage to win anything.

More accurate is that Bradys parents are not moving from the West coast. They are getting up in years and Bradys mother is sick. Brady and Company are Westbound to the LA Chargers.

Brady does not need BB, McD, BOB, Weis or kisses from Kraft. Brady needs talent around him at this point in his career.

dannydyn said:
At 43 he's not going to learn a new offensive system, get acquainted with new OC, new HC, dozens of players, etc.

Brady is the OC. A 10 yard slant is the exact same play by any name given. Brady would learn the terminology by St Patricks day. Players come and go. Brady and Moss did not have an issue. Brady and AB were off to a good start.

dannydyn said:
He's staying right here. They'll resign him for 2 more years, retool the offense, and give this dynasty another couple of shots.

The retooling needed to happen last draft and offseason. Too late. Brady is tired of playing with the Harrys and the Dorsetts of the NFL. Time to try something totally out of the box and go play with more than 1 draft pick who are good to great players.

The Chargers are loaded and they draft again in an upward draft position. They have proven to possess the insight and the ability to not pixx away high picks on WRs, TEs and RBs who are Busts. Brady would contend for the AFCW upon putting on his new uniform.

Brady is leaving.

alvinnf · Jan 5, 2020

Get ready folks! You are about to become the Browns of the Belichick years. It is over, Rod Rust in a hoodie!!

upstater1 · Jan 5, 2020

Joey007 said:
I know he said it’s unlikely but it’s still early.

If it doesn’t work out to come back here, and if he doesn’t find another suitor that will give him a sufficient amount of talent to where he feels he can go out and win #7.... that may change his mind.

"if he doesn't find another suitor..."

That's why Brady said "hopefully unlikely."

There are slim pickins for suitors out there. Most teams have young QBs.

The questions are, "Are the Chargers moving on from Rivers? And is Brady a replacement for Rivers?"

& "Are the Bears giving up on Trubisky?"

If Rivers and Trubisky are the answers for those 2 teams, then I have no idea where Brady goes. The Redskins? Bottom feeder. Cincy? No way. Tampa if it moves on from Winston? Small possibility, but possible. Las Vegas? Not seeing it, they'll stick with Carr.

It really is just Chicago, Chargers, and maybe the Bucs.

upstater1 · Jan 5, 2020

dustcover said:
" See if Brady will come back on an incentive laden deal"

To even consider or offer Brady an incentive contract would be a monumental insult to the face of the franchise over the past 20 years. Any such notion would surely prompt Brady to just turn and walk out the door and rightly so. You might as well offer to let him carry the clipboard while he tutors Stidham!

&, he might even take money similar to this year from a team that gives him a firm commitment to stock the offense around him.

upstater1 · Jan 5, 2020

primetime said:
I think people are a bit harsh with Sanu. He's a complementary player who's excelled in other places as a secondary option to All Pro caliber receivers like Julio Jones and AJ Green. He came in midseason and had to learn an entire offense, then promptly got hurt in his first game and was walking wounded for most of the season. He clearly was still learning the offense. He was late into several releases last night, including once not getting off on the snap for a full second because he was looking at his wristband (presumably a cheat sheet with audible calls) when the ball was snapped. That's not a talent issue, it's just a natural result of acquiring a receiver midseason. And the only guys seemingly available were Sanu and Sanders, and they couldn't fit Sanders' contract because of the Brown fiasco.

The advantage to acquiring Sanu was that he's still signed and he's on a team-friendly contract. He's not just a rental and he's still in his prime so there's no real concern he's going to lose it physically, and he's been a good player in multiple offenses so there's no real reason to think he's a product of a system or something.

I think he'll be much better next year with a full camp, but they need someone to step up because Edelman's breaking down and Sanu is not a top flight guy, he's a better Hogan or LaFell type. I'm not convinced Harry is that guy, but maybe he'll have a DJ Chark renaissance in his sophomore season. Or maybe they'll acquire a Beckham or something.

It is still safe to say it was a desperate trade. My quip about Rutgers was tongue in cheek. But the high price of the trade was not.

upstater1 · Jan 5, 2020

PrairiePat · Jan 5, 2020

I keep seeing 'he'll follow McDaniels somewhere'. Why the heck would McDaniels want to start a new gig with a 43 year old QB who is likely gone after a year or 2?

Brady's my favorite player ever, but his best option forward is to stay in NE, work with a presumably new OC, and maybe advise BB on the types of players he'd like to have around him, etc. I thought the OL did a good job protecting him last night, so that's something to build around.

The other thing I keep reading is how we need to get OBJ or Julio or someone like that. Frankly I think 4 Edelman-style receivers with smarts and quickness and a solid TE would work better for Brady's style of offense.

upstater1 · Jan 5, 2020

PrairiePat said:
I keep seeing 'he'll follow McDaniels somewhere'. Why the heck would McDaniels want to start a new gig with a 43 year old QB who is likely gone after a year or 2?

Brady's my favorite player ever, but his best option forward is to stay in NE, work with a presumably new OC, and maybe advise BB on the types of players he'd like to have around him, etc. I thought the OL did a good job protecting him last night, so that's something to build around.

The other thing I keep reading is how we need to get OBJ or Julio or someone like that. Frankly I think 4 Edelman-style receivers with smarts and quickness and a solid TE would work better for Brady's style of offense.

None of that works though without a fast receiving threat downfield, which is something New England has had in the past. The defense needs to be stretched to make pockets for throws underneath.

varjao · Jan 5, 2020

Give Brady a 3 year contract for him to retire as a Patriot, with an option to make things easier for the team on year 3. And a promisse to make an effort to go all in in this window to close the chapter with another Lombardi.

RobertWeathers · Jan 5, 2020

varjao said:
Give Brady a 3 year contract for him to retire as a Patriot, with an option to make things easier for the team on year 3. And a promisse to make an effort to go all in in this window to close the chapter with another Lombardi.

They need to find a balance.

They were up against the cap this year and had the #1 D in the NFL.

If not sure it is wise to load up on O and not spend on D.

50-yard-line · Jan 5, 2020

I can't believe you guys aren't seeing the obvious.

Early on the day the league settles the AB affair, the Pats trade for OBJ...then, after the announcement (via twitter from AB), the Pats resign him.

The next day, Gronk has an announcement, and when nobody cares, he realizes he can't stand irrelevance and un-retires.

I mean, this is all so obvious.

Also obvious that when the Pats can't do it again, the posters here will pine for every other superstar in the league (AJ Brown lit them the f*** up yesterday, amirite?), blame whoever gets the misfortune of being named OC, scream that ex-Pats "busts" are playing better elsewhere, and type 50 times a day that BB the GM is killing BB the Coach, or vice-versa.

Obvious stuff.

gitgronked82 · Jan 5, 2020

upstater1 said:
I should also add that with the uncertainty on our entire defense (i.e. the status of the McCourtys, Chung, Jon Jones, Hightower, Van Noy, Jamie Collins), and some key players on offense (Edelman, Thuney, Andrews, Brady), this team is going to need to do a lot of retooling.

What status is uncertain for Jones, Edelman, Andrews, and Hightower?

skinnydog said:
Would be nice if Andrews comes back. He was around for some off field team events, so that's a good sign. I never knew how good he was until we didn't have him. Wynn, was solid but not spectacular. Thuney is a free agent. Do they pay big money to both guard positions? Mason was either hurt all season or not as good as thought (I thought he looked better lately). Cannon looks done. this O-Line could not punch it in with three runs from the 1 yard line against the Titans. On none of those plays did they get a decent push against the Titan's front 7. Hard to feel pretty good about that going forward.

Andrews wasn’t just around for off field events, he was on the practice field all the time. He’ll be back

sieglo · Jan 5, 2020

If I were Brady and all I wanted to do was play and win Lombardis, I’d sign up at vet minimum with the condition the Pats use the difference to load up the offense.

Redman443 · Jan 5, 2020

BB can be brutal, no one is safe from his decision making. he could part ways with Brady even if the fans and brady himself does not want to leave.

upstater1 · Jan 5, 2020

gitgronked82 said:
What status is uncertain for Jones, Edelman, Andrews, and Hightower?

Andrews wasn’t just around for off field events, he was on the practice field all the time. He’ll be back

Jones is a FA
Edelman took a beating and is going to be 34 next year
Andrews' illness of lung blood clots is something that returns
Hightower is getting on in years and may be due for a pay cut if BB wants to save money

The team needs a youth infusion at safety and linebacker.
Also needs backups at OL
& at least 2 or 3 new WRs and 2 new TEs and another young QB

By my estimate, we need 3 safeties, 2 backups on OL beyond Cajuste and Froholdt (Froholdt got bad reviews in camp and Cajuste's injury presents no guarantees), 2 new TEs, 2 WRs, 1 QB.

We need 10 new players at key positions to compete well again. I'm not saying that all these players are leaving this year, but that some of them are leaving, and that the rest have question marks either because of age, injury, high contracts, FA, or performance.

PFT: Brady "Unlikely" to Retire

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In the Starting Line-Up

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2nd Team Getting Their First Start

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Experienced Starter w/First Big Contract

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2nd Team Getting Their First Start

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In the Starting Line-Up

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