I'm Finally Convinced: This is Brady's Last Year in New England

[203Pat]

Once again - salary cap????

When we don’t re-sign half our free agents and then get AJ Green on a one year “prove it deal” or get OBJ to restructure we have room.
I also think there’s a solid chance Sanu is asked to move some money around and Cannon may be asked to take a pay cut or get cut. They will make room the same ways they always make room.

 

[shmessy]

You're saying the only way Pats go to SB is if AFCCG is at NE hosting the Bills? I suppose the Bills have a 10% chance of going to CG, so anything is possible.

That’s not what he said at all. He said they have twice beaten the best D they will face and the OTHERS may very well be easier to face. And He’s not mentioning the opposing offenses. It’s in clear English. But you’ve been consistently good at misrepresenting what other posters write.

 

[shmessy]

When we don’t re-sign half our free agents and then get AJ Green on a one year “prove it deal” or get OBJ to restructure we have room.
I also think there’s a solid chance Sanu is asked to move some money around and Cannon may be asked to take a pay cut or get cut. They will make room the same ways they always make room.

If we don’t sign half our free agents and sign OBJ or Green, that would be a significant step backwards, however.

 

[Tottie]

If we don’t sign half our free agents and sign OBJ or Green, that would be a significant step backwards, however.

I agree with this. Both of those guys don't help us with the projected cap hits. Unless green wants to play for like 8mil a year.

 

[203Pat]

If we don’t sign half our free agents and sign OBJ or Green, that would be a significant step backwards, however.

Everyone says that every year and it always seems to work out.

 

[venecol]

Once again - salary cap????

You make it sound like the cap will only be an issue next year, when its always been. There's about $43M in cap space for some of these FA next year (current cap $ in Millions). :




Retire ($17.34M): McCourty, Slater, Watson.
Walk ($5.2M): Collins, Thuney.
Keep ($10.27M): VanNoy, Bethel, Karras, Roberts, Butler.
Low Ball & stay or leave ($6.4M): Dorsett, Ebner, Shelton.
Rest is whatever.

There should be enough to extend Brady pushing signing bonus to a 2nd a/o 3rd void years like they just did. Not sure if Brady's 2020 dead cap of $13.5M can be added back or if it's sunk cost. May need to restructure existing contracts of others to make it happen. Its tight like always, but doable imo.

Not a cap expert at all, just putting my 2 cents in. Welcome comments and corrections.

 

[patfanken]

Ok, so HOW are they going to get all those new guys under the salary cap while paying. 43 year old QB close to top money????? Oh, by the way Thuney is going to want to get paid as will Van Noy and several others we already have. Think of that for a moment - forget about “new” guys, they are going to have to work cap magic just to PRESERVE what they have. Oh, and there is no more cheap second round pick.

There simply won’t be room for a 43 year old Brady at $20 million a year if they want to contend instead of being a museum piece. My guess is Kraft would lean towards museum piece and BB is only concerned with contending. It all comes down to whether Kraft is willing to part with BB over this and I don’t think he is.

So, what you wrote in that second paragraph is easier written than done. Let’s think reality here.

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Excuse me? You sound positively panicking in this post. According to what I've read the Pats will have 65MM in cap space going into next season., even more if guys like Burkhead, Cannon and the McCourty brothers move on.

Sure they won't be able to keep everyone who will be a FA, but when have they EVER been able to do that? Who stays and who goes remains to be seen, but keeping Brady at around $25MM for another season is NOT going to be the reason the Pats fail in 2020. Quite the contrary.

 

[1960Pats]

He may very well stay a Pat. But not anywhere near $25 million and BB still the HC.

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So you aren't convinced he's done? Good. I was starting to worry about you.

The fact that Brady has taken the Pats to 12-3 without blocking, TEs or WRs is quite an accomplishment. Belichick and Kraft would be fools to let him go.

 

[venecol]

That’s not what he said at all. He said they have twice beaten the best D they will face and the OTHERS may very well be easier to face. And He’s not mentioning the opposing offenses. It’s in clear English. But you’ve been consistently good at misrepresenting what other posters write.

Huh? This is what he said:

It is quite possible this team can win the Super Bowl if the line plays like it did against the Bengals and the Bills, especially with a week off for the bye. The best defense left in the AFC playoffs picture is the Bills, who the Patriots know how to attack, and who they would get at home if the Bills beat the Texans in the Wild Card Round (probable), and the Ravens in the Divisional Round (possible.)

He is specifically saying that "it is probable the Bills beat Texans in WC round" and "possible they beat Ravens in Divisional round." If the Bills do those two things, then they would play the Patriots at home in the AFCCG (which assumes the Pats beat KC). He starts the paragraph by saying "it is quite possible this team can win the SB." Which I interpreted to really mean "go to the SB" since he was talking about the AFC.

It is your interpretation that makes no sense, but thanks again for showing your complete lack of basic English comprehension.

Why don't you just let @goheels22002 answer what he meant before you make this post disappear into the ozone layer.

 

[Ring 6]

So, the question remains, who replaces those players and what level of replacement talent would the Patriots have for. 43 year old Bradyceating over $20 million in cap space next year?????

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It’s hard to believe I have to explain this to someone who spends so much time on a football message board but you aren’t winning without a QB and the literally genius of winning SBs isn’t getting rid of the QB who is the greatest winner of all time because his contract is reasonable.

 

[venecol]

Excuse me? You sound positively panicking in this post. According to what I've read the Pats will have 65MM in cap space going into next season., even more if guys like Burkhead, Cannon and the McCourty brothers move on.

Sure they won't be able to keep everyone who will be a FA, but when have they EVER been able to do that? Who stays and who goes remains to be seen, but keeping Brady at around $25MM for another season is NOT going to be the reason the Pats fail in 2020. Quite the contrary.

I would say the correct word is not panicking, but outright hysterical.

What's confusing is him bringing up cap space at all, when the premise of the original post was that he was "finally convinced" this was Brady's final year at NEP because he resigned from the local charity. Lmao. Say whaaat?

 

[Doctor DDS]

Pats are a win now team so moving on to a 2nd year QB would be incredibly risky. If they think Stidham is ready to really break out then they take that chance but if he ends up as good as Josh Allen or Sam Darnold were this year then the Pats will not be serious Super Bowl contenders.

 

[shmessy]

Excuse me? You sound positively panicking in this post. According to what I've read the Pats will have 65MM in cap space going into next season., even more if guys like Burkhead, Cannon and the McCourty brothers move on.

Sure they won't be able to keep everyone who will be a FA, but when have they EVER been able to do that? Who stays and who goes remains to be seen, but keeping Brady at around $25MM for another season is NOT going to be the reason the Pats fail in 2020. Quite the contrary.

Panicking? No. Unlike some others I’m perfectly comfortable knowing that Brady can’t go on forever. It’s been known this was going to happen for years, but some here can’t seem to understand that. Brady's own father said he saw this coming 5 years ago and he said it won’t be pretty. That’s reality. Understand it. Accept it. It’s life. I celebrate what has been achieved these past two decades and am grateful. No fandom deserves what we’ve received and it’s something I’ll thankfully appreciate forever. Reality is reality. I hope the Patriots will be contenders going forward and anything more is a bonus.

In the meantime, it’s not my decision about Brady. It is William Stephen Belichick’s. Some here think he’ll spend $25+ million on a 43 year old Brady. We’ll see.

 

[mikey m]

So you aren't convinced he's done? Good. I was starting to worry about you.

The fact that Brady has taken the Pats to 12-3 without blocking, TEs or WRs is quite an accomplishment. Belichick and Kraft would be fools to let him go.

The defense is far more responsible for the team's record. That's not an indictment of Brady, the d is obviously the more talented unit.

 

[shmessy]

So you aren't convinced he's done? Good. I was starting to worry about you.

The fact that Brady has taken the Pats to 12-3 without blocking, TEs or WRs is quite an accomplishment. Belichick and Kraft would be fools to let him go.

Definitely the best option for the Patriots THIS year with the defense they have and the special teams and, yes, a subpar offense talent-wise. He managed that expertly. Absolutely.

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[supafly]

Ok, so HOW are they going to get all those new guys under the salary cap while paying. 43 year old QB close to top money????? Oh, by the way Thuney is going to want to get paid as will Van Noy and several others we already have. Think of that for a moment - forget about “new” guys, they are going to have to work cap magic just to PRESERVE what they have. Oh, and there is no more cheap second round pick.

There simply won’t be room for a 43 year old Brady at $20 million a year if they want to contend instead of being a museum piece. My guess is Kraft would lean towards museum piece and BB is only concerned with contending. It all comes down to whether Kraft is willing to part with BB over this and I don’t think he is.

So, what you wrote in that second paragraph is easier written than done. Let’s think reality here.

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So, assuming that Brady stays another year, they’d have approx 25m to spend in free agency with some key players either leaving or needing to be re-signed. How is this any different than any other year?

 

[shmessy]

So, assuming that Brady stays another year, they’d have approx 25m to spend in free agency with some key players either leaving or needing to be re-signed. How is this any different than any other year?

How is it different this time?? He wasn’t 43 years old in any of those examples.

Belichick almost pulled the trigger 3 seasons ago. Thankfully he didn’t then.

Reality is reality.

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[supafly]

He wasn’t 43 years old in any of those examples. Reality is reality.

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If this is the case and they’re planning to let him walk at the end of the season, they’ve done a terrible job of managing their options, and I think it would be disappointing. One more season gives them the best chance for another chance at the SB, allows Tom to likely retire a NEP, and most importantly, allows the team to have a better plan moving forward.

 

[Froob]

Is Brady's next year's David Patten (there's no way he makes this team guy)?

 

[shmessy]

If this is the case and they’re planning to let him walk at the end of the season, they’ve done a terrible job of managing their options, and I think it would be disappointing. One more season gives them the best chance for another chance at the SB, allows Tom to likely retire a NEP, and most importantly, allows the team to have a better plan moving forward.

Look, I hope it all works out, he wins SB 54, 55 and 56 as a Patriot and retires in training camp of August 2022 one day after he turns 45 so he can say he fulfilled his TB12 business plan promise of age 45.

However, I think Tom Sr. was correct.