Brady Negotiations to Begin at Combine (Merged)

Curran: Where we stand and what's next

So where do things currently stand? After conversations over the past few days, this is my understanding of where things are.

Negotiations will begin "in a couple of weeks." I interpret that as during or immediately after the NFL Combine which starts about February 26 and concludes March 1.

By that time, Brady should have back-channeled his way to an understanding of what’s out there. Last week, I wondered whether it was advantageous for the Patriots if teams did make their pitches to Brady before "legal tampering" begins on March 16.

My understanding is that the Patriots aren’t worried about other team’s financial pitches. Their business with Brady revolves around the direction of the 2020 offensive personnel, Brady getting some input on that and Brady’s role in the team’s future. They aren’t going to be super-vigilant about tampering.

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TommyBrady12 said:

Curran: Where we stand and what's next

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I'm sure BB let's Tom tell him what to do with the offense.

Hope Stidham is ready to roll.

ChrisR2223 said:

I'm sure BB let's Tom tell him what to do with the offense. Hope Stidham is ready to roll.

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BB: "OK Tom. We can sign you for $25 million and put the team in cap hell to surround you with elite receivers and top offensive linemen. But you do realize this will require you to score an average of 38 points per game as we won't be able to afford a defense worth sh!t."

I always have loved Tom Brady but after that freaking Hulu commercial I don't care if he stays or goes. It's only one more season with him at the most anyway and the Patriots won't be in the title hunt this year with or without him. But that's just my opinion.

BB: We can offer you $25M for one year, and a couple of fake years to spread out the money. Of course, we plan to have great improvements at WR and TE.

TB: Please contact my agent when you have drafted a contract for $60M of new money over two years, and yes a 3rd fake year is OK.

Tunescribe said:

BB: "OK Tom. We can sign you for $25 million and put the team in cap hell to surround you with elite receivers and top offensive linemen. But you do realize this will require you to score an average of 38 points per game as we won't be able to afford a defense worth sh!t."

I always have loved Tom Brady but after that freaking Hulu commercial I don't care if he stays or goes. It's only one more season with him at the most anyway and the Patriots won't be in the title hunt this year with or without him. But that's just my opinion.

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That’s a great outlook you have for our team all before the draft and free agency.

Bill well first off I’ve been the leader of this team and reason for all the success and if I’m going to continue that success I need guys I can play with cap be damned.
Bill hello hello are you there?
Bill I know your there I can hear you watching film in the background.
Tom look I hope you enjoy plays with the word banana in every other word.
Thanks for everything we all have jobs to do and mine is now finding a new leader for this team I bet a coke I win a Super Bowl before you and the Sin city Pirates I’ll see you across the field.

Tunescribe said:

BB: "OK Tom. We can sign you for $25 million and put the team in cap hell to surround you with elite receivers and top offensive linemen. But you do realize this will require you to score an average of 38 points per game as we won't be able to afford a defense worth sh!t."

I always have loved Tom Brady but after that freaking Hulu commercial I don't care if he stays or goes. It's only one more season with him at the most anyway and the Patriots won't be in the title hunt this year with or without him. But that's just my opinion.

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why do you hate Hulu so much?

own Netflix stock?

I wish there was more information out there

TommyBrady12 said:

Curran: Where we stand and what's next

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The combine often provides opportunities for parties to discuss contract extensions.

Tunescribe said:

BB: "OK Tom. We can sign you for $25 million and put the team in cap hell to surround you with elite receivers and top offensive linemen. But you do realize this will require you to score an average of 38 points per game as we won't be able to afford a defense worth sh!t."

I always have loved Tom Brady but after that freaking Hulu commercial I don't care if he stays or goes. It's only one more season with him at the most anyway and the Patriots won't be in the title hunt this year with or without him. But that's just my opinion.

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So long as Gilly is lockdown they'll figure it out on D. Spend on O to make TB happy and draft on D to replace what leaves.
I'm hoping to keep 1 of the free agent LBs Van Noy is gone but I think one of Roberts or even Collins will be cheaper than they thought. DMac is probably gone unless he takes a serious home team discount. The D likely won't be quite as good as this past season but if the O is fixed they should have plenty.

Angelpats said:

That’s a great outlook you have for our team all before the draft and free agency.

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Yes, things certainly could make for a rosier picture if the draft and free agency fall our way. I hope things don't pan out the way I fear.

I'm ready to move on if this doesn't work out. I'm concerned that the team won't be able to pay Tom and sign the right players to support him. If that can work then great. If not maybe it's time to play the kid and see what he can do.

This all sounds perfectly reasonable to me. There was no disadvantage to letting Brady see what his market was, as "forbidding" that wouldn't have him suddenly saying, "Okay, I'll sign early for whatever you want me to on blind faith."

As for the offensive input, I think that's fine too, so long as there is a limit. I WANT Tom Brady to have input on the players around him, as at this point he's as versed in the overall operation of the offense as any coach on any field. I'd also be surprised if he never had any input previously. Just because BB makes the final decisions doesn't me he never asks for Brady's opinion, or at least tries to get a beat on who he thinks will work best with him. This doesn't sound like an outlandish thing to be negotiating at all.

The Patriots have a budget that they need to work with, and (much like Bill saying he only wants to coach players that have a particular football mindset) Brady wants to make sure he's not spending his last year or two in the league trying to force chemistry with whoever they throw out there with him. There's a very fertile ground in the middle there, and unless one of the sides isn't really operating in good faith, I see no reason they won't find it.

WOW! 6 figures a year for a reporter who "digs deep" and offers up the headline, "the Pats and Brady will probably sit down and talk contract "in a couple of of weeks". Boy must have caused Tom E to exhaust nearly ALL of the contacts he's developed over 2 decades of covering the Pats.

"My understanding is that the Patriots aren’t worried about other team’s financial pitches. Their business with Brady revolves around the direction of the 2020 offensive personnel, Brady getting some input on that and Brady’s role in the team’s future."

Can't wait for TB to provide the input that AB be re-signed. That alone will improve the O by 50%. Then find a TE or 2 via draft/FA and fix run game (FB, OL). Ready for another run at #7.

mgteich said:

BB: We can offer you $25M for one year, and a couple of fake years to spread out the money. Of course, we plan to have great improvements at WR and TE.

TB: Please contact my agent when you have drafted a contract for $60M of new money over two years, and yes a 3rd fake year is OK.

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The presumption that paying Brady $25m puts us in cap hell is completely false.

venecol said:

"My understanding is that the Patriots aren’t worried about other team’s financial pitches. Their business with Brady revolves around the direction of the 2020 offensive personnel, Brady getting some input on that and Brady’s role in the team’s future."

Can't wait for TB to provide the input that AB be re-signed. That alone will improve the O by 50%. Then find a TE or 2 via draft/FA and fix run game (FB, OL). Ready for another run at #7.

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According to AB, him and Brady are planning a reunion...

There does seem to be a lot of room in the middle, if both parties want to land there.
Even if that happens, there seem to be more than the usual holes in the roster this year.
But we've seen the team go into camp with loaded rosters that looked invincible and still not win it all, and just the opposite. I'm in for the ride, but a bit more guarded.

Sicilian said:

This all sounds perfectly reasonable to me. There was no disadvantage to letting Brady see what his market was, as "forbidding" that wouldn't have him suddenly saying, "Okay, I'll sign early for whatever you want me to on blind faith."

As for the offensive input, I think that's fine too, so long as there is a limit. I WANT Tom Brady to have input on the players around him, as at this point he's as versed in the overall operation of the offense as any coach on any field. I'd also be surprised if he never had any input previously. Just because BB makes the final decisions doesn't me he never asks for Brady's opinion, or at least tries to get a beat on who he thinks will work best with him. This doesn't sound like an outlandish thing to be negotiating at all.

The Patriots have a budget that they need to work with, and (much like Bill saying he only wants to coach players that have a particular football mindset) Brady wants to make sure he's not spending his last year or two in the league trying to force chemistry with whoever they throw out there with him. There's a very fertile ground in the middle there, and unless one of the sides isn't really operating in good faith, I see no reason they won't find it.

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Sicilian said:

This all sounds perfectly reasonable to me. There was no disadvantage to letting Brady see what his market was, as "forbidding" that wouldn't have him suddenly saying, "Okay, I'll sign early for whatever you want me to on blind faith."

As for the offensive input, I think that's fine too, so long as there is a limit. I WANT Tom Brady to have input on the players around him, as at this point he's as versed in the overall operation of the offense as any coach on any field. I'd also be surprised if he never had any input previously. Just because BB makes the final decisions doesn't me he never asks for Brady's opinion, or at least tries to get a beat on who he thinks will work best with him. This doesn't sound like an outlandish thing to be negotiating at all.

The Patriots have a budget that they need to work with, and (much like Bill saying he only wants to coach players that have a particular football mindset) Brady wants to make sure he's not spending his last year or two in the league trying to force chemistry with whoever they throw out there with him. There's a very fertile ground in the middle there, and unless one of the sides isn't really operating in good faith, I see no reason they won't find it.

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Brady will use Kawhi Leonard strategy on the team he really wants to sign with.

Biffins said:

The presumption that paying Brady $25m puts us in cap hell is completely false.

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True...it doesn't put the Patriots in cap hell. It's the cost of doing business with a non-rookie QB contract.

I am 1000% in favor of bringing Brady back any price, and I think people are not seeing the forest here and are staring at the trees and taking for granted the historical rarity of being a fan right now even at the end of the dynasty; at the same time, there's a reason for some healthy skepticism on bringing back Brady at that price from a short-term competitive standpoint. The problem is the lack of young assets on rookie deals due to some dreadfully poor draft returns for years. This will catch up to every team, though if you had a rookie (like Stidham) and he was good, you could neutralize a lot of the negative impact of these drafts. But assuming they bring back Brady, they'll have maybe $15-20M, maybe some restructures and cuts to bring up that number to $25-30M.

But that is also without accounting for McCourty, Thuney, and Van Noy, among others. So it's hard to imagine a much greater overall net impact when they would presumably just be trading some positions (defense especially) for some skill players. There just isn't a ton of cap space to work with considering all of the holes on the roster. So unless the team can really defy the odds here, it's likely trading one set of problems for some others. The handicap of like five bust drafts in a row, and paying a reasonable amount for a QB, is typically a recipe for failure.