Off-season is one of the most exciting times for football teams across the National Football League. Players from everyone’s favorite teams often end up in rocky situations regarding the salary cap and will either see pay cuts, trades or departures when contracts end. This is exactly what happened when players such as Le’Veon Bell, Trey Flowers, and Cordarrelle Patterson all left their former teams and found themselves in new places. This same type of move is on the back of every New England Patriots fan’s mind as we approach the halfway point of the season. There have been many rumors flying around regarding the star quarterback, but there are only three options that really make sense regarding the beloved quarterback.
If Tom Brady were to stay with playing football for another year, it is very likely that he would resign with the Patriots. He has never taken extremely large sums of money even though many fans could argue that the player is worth a decent amount. Due to these pay cuts, the front office for New England was able to acquire more talent for Tom Brady to work with, such as Mohamed Sanu Sr., Antonio Brown and Josh Gordon. With his history of taking pay cuts, it is no secret that he loves New England, and would often take pay cuts in order to ensure that he would be able to stay and get help for him to work with. The team that gave the late rounder a chance, where he would go on to win six Super Bowls.
The only other option regarding Tom Brady if he would continue to play would be to explore the trade market. Rumors regarding a Tom Brady trade began to pop up around August and September when people began to see the four-time Super Bowl MVP put his Massachusetts house on the market. This is something that would be worrying if you neglect the idea that the man also owns real estate in California, and could stay at other teammate’s houses during the season or even be looking for a smaller piece of real estate until retirement. While this trade talk is something that has made headlines for many football analysts for a while, this is the least likely of the three choices. If you look at his history, Tom Brady has never been to other teams all while taking pay cuts. Taking this into factor with his age, there is no real benefit for a team to look into Tom Brady, given the fear that they may invest in someone who is older for a quarterback. Especially since the last quarterback to play around Tom Brady’s age was Brett Favre, and Vikings fans can tell you how badly that went.
The final option for Tom Brady would be to retire, which is the most likely option besides staying with New England. The quarterback has been to nine Super Bowls and lost only three of them. He is on the hunt for his seventh win and the team is well on their way to making the playoffs for the eleventh straight season. While there are still obstacles in the way if Tom Brady does retire he definitely deserves it.
At the end of the day, Tom Brady will most likely either sign a one-season deal with New England or retire; however, there is still the chance of the trade, though it would be highly unusual. There are still three months left of football, so the answer will be revealed in the off-season and, with the way things have gone in the past, a surprise could be given to New England fans.
This article is the sole opinion of this writer.
Alan Fortin can be contacted
at afortin@kscequinox.com
