The in the wake of Saturday night's lo s to the is palpable. Bill Belichick, who after winning the a few years ago, suddenly doesn't want to talk about his own future plans, much le s status with the Patriots.Here's the reality: Brady is a free agent and will have a life-altering decision to make. It's a decision not entirely up to him either -- even if he wants to return to New England, the Patriots don't have to re-sign him, obviously. There are reports Brady isn't willing to give the Pats a hometown discount next year and the way things were phrased in the wake of the lo s to the Titans certainly makes you think change Will Middlebrooks Jersey could be in the air. he wasn't planning on retiring, calling it "pretty unlikely" before adding that it was "hopefully unlikely" he wouldn't be done with football. The former sixth-round pick also praised the Patriots but said he wasn't interested in predicting the future when it came to whether or not he would be in New England next season. I dont know what the future looks like, and Im not going to predict it. - Tom Brady on whether he'll be back with the Patriots in 2020 CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) The retirement thing is pretty much off the table. he had no intention of walking away from football. "Yeah," Brady told King after the Titans game. "I think I'm just ... I'll explore those opportunities whenever they are. If it's the Patriots, great. If that doesn't work, I don't know. I just don't know. I love playing football John Kruk Jersey . I still want to play football. I think I still can play at a championship level. I've just got to go do it. I'm motivated to get back to work and training."At the same time, it's pretty hard to fathom the notion of Robert Kraft, who grew up a Patriots fan and built this dynasty with Belichick and Brady, letting the greatest quarterback of all time walk out the door. Can he really stomach the idea of seeing Brady play in a different uniform? King, whose column ran Monday morning, also spoke with Kraft from Gillette. Kraft told King it was his "hope and prayer" for Brady to either play for the Patriots or retire.Kraft also shed some light on the contract situation: he claimed "it was very important to Tom that he be free to do whatever he wanted at the end of the year." I think that notion is surprising. When the , it than it was Brady. To have Kraft frame it that way is interesting. Those small details matter now more than ever. Brady is a free agent for the first time in his career. He's a completely unprecedented free agent too, given his age and legacy and abilities he showed on the field. Brady wasn't at his best this year, but anyone blaming the Patriots' offensive woes on the quarterback probably wasn't looking in the right direction.So now a very interesting dance begins. The reality for every aging quarterback is the po sibility of playing in a different uniform. Will the Pats want Brady? Does Brady want the Pats? Will there be other suitors lining up? Let's explore all the options, in terms of most likely to least likely.New England PatriotsThe favorite until he actually decides to sign somewhere else. He was drafted by the Patriots, he's played his entire career with the Patriots and Kraft considers him "blood family." I have a difficult time imagining a situation where someone like Brady, with his disciplined regimen, suddenly wants to move his family to an Juan Samuel Jersey entirely different city and start learning the ins and outs of an entirely different organization. It's not like the reason the Patriots lost to the Titans was Brady's play. Offensively they don't have the pieces right now to be an elite offensive team. (It's hilarious to think at one point there was a debate about , back when , , and were the top four wideouts.) Would New England need to improve the parts around Brady to convince him to return? Or would he simply be willing to return with the promise of more money? Do they even want him to return? Will Bill Belichick have the ultimate say? Can Kraft jump in and veto any moves? Is ready to run the offense? Would the Patriots entertain acquiring a different quarterback ( , , , ???)? Will Josh McDaniels be around to run the offense? There are a million moving parts to this situation. Last offseason's negotiations will make this contract more difficult. But we've seen continue to hit the market and then sign up for one-yearThe negotiations last offseason that led to Brady becoming a free agent ahead of 2021 definitely didn't help matters in terms of making things easier moving forward, but if Belichick convinces Bob Kraft to hold firm on his price, it's very po sible the Pats won't give Brady what he needs. If that happens in negotiations, Brady could end up elsewhere. It would be wild to see but it's not completely out of the question.The Pats are the favorite to land Brady again in 2020 for a variety of reasons. But in the event New England wants to play hardball in negotiations, Brady could find himself exploring other options. Maybe someone makes him a sizable financial offer he doesn't want to turn down, while packaging it with other aspects of what a new team can offer.The most "logical" landing spot for Brady outside of New England is the Chargers. It makes zero sense when you say it out loud, because the Chargers are the antithesis of the Patriots. They're an underachieving team that is oftentimes poorly run and very rarely able to provide support for a franchise quarterback in order to make deep playoff runs. In particular, the last 10 years of the Chargers Carlos Santana Jersey is incredibly disappointing. Is Tom Brady really leaving the security of New England to try and turn around the Bolts and make a run? The reasons to join up with the Chargers would be location -- Los Angeles would certainly help him expand his "brand" and he's from California -- as well as finances -- theoretically he could get max dollars on the free agent market, not that money should matter Francisco Rodriguez Jersey to him -- and a desire to win somewhere other than New England. I understand the connection, especially with the Chargers e sentially having already moved on from Philip Rivers. People talk about the talent here, and Keenan Allen/Mike Williams would be top tier wideouts for the Patriots. is an underrated monster. But is gone, the offensive line is not-so-quietly a me s and is out too. Are the Chargers more likely to win the Super Bowl next year than the Patriots? No chance. The Chargers adding Brady would go a long way towards selling tickets in their new stadium. I'm not saying the city of L.A. would latch onto Tom Brady and fill the stadium, but it's not out of the realm of po sibility he would become the top local football draw. This feels simultaneously more and le s logical. The Colts are a more stable organization with a better supporting infrastructure. Jacoby Bri set is under contract, but surely he would understand the logic of bringing in Tom Brady. They're friends, so it could work. T.Y. Hilton is a top tier wideout an
The in the wake of Saturday night's lo s to the is palpable. Bill Belichick, who after winning the a few years ago, suddenly doesn't want to talk about his own future plans, much le s status with the Patriots.Here's the reality: Brady is a free agent and will have a life-altering decision to make. It's a decision not entirely up to him either -- even if he wants to return to New England, the Patriots don't have to re-sign him, obviously. There are reports Brady isn't willing to give the Pats a hometown discount next year and the way things were phrased in the wake of the lo s to the Titans certainly makes you think change Will Middlebrooks Jersey could be in the air. he wasn't planning on retiring, calling it "pretty unlikely" before adding that it was "hopefully unlikely" he wouldn't be done with football. The former sixth-round pick also praised the Patriots but said he wasn't interested in predicting the future when it came to whether or not he would be in New England next season. I dont know what the future looks like, and Im not going to predict it. - Tom Brady on whether he'll be back with the Patriots in 2020 CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) The retirement thing is pretty much off the table. he had no intention of walking away from football. "Yeah," Brady told King after the Titans game. "I think I'm just ... I'll explore those opportunities whenever they are. If it's the Patriots, great. If that doesn't work, I don't know. I just don't know. I love playing football John Kruk Jersey . I still want to play football. I think I still can play at a championship level. I've just got to go do it. I'm motivated to get back to work and training."At the same time, it's pretty hard to fathom the notion of Robert Kraft, who grew up a Patriots fan and built this dynasty with Belichick and Brady, letting the greatest quarterback of all time walk out the door. Can he really stomach the idea of seeing Brady play in a different uniform? King, whose column ran Monday morning, also spoke with Kraft from Gillette. Kraft told King it was his "hope and prayer" for Brady to either play for the Patriots or retire.Kraft also shed some light on the contract situation: he claimed "it was very important to Tom that he be free to do whatever he wanted at the end of the year." I think that notion is surprising. When the , it than it was Brady. To have Kraft frame it that way is interesting. Those small details matter now more than ever. Brady is a free agent for the first time in his career. He's a completely unprecedented free agent too, given his age and legacy and abilities he showed on the field. Brady wasn't at his best this year, but anyone blaming the Patriots' offensive woes on the quarterback probably wasn't looking in the right direction.So now a very interesting dance begins. The reality for every aging quarterback is the po sibility of playing in a different uniform. Will the Pats want Brady? Does Brady want the Pats? Will there be other suitors lining up? Let's explore all the options, in terms of most likely to least likely.New England PatriotsThe favorite until he actually decides to sign somewhere else. He was drafted by the Patriots, he's played his entire career with the Patriots and Kraft considers him "blood family." I have a difficult time imagining a situation where someone like Brady, with his disciplined regimen, suddenly wants to move his family to an Juan Samuel Jersey entirely different city and start learning the ins and outs of an entirely different organization. It's not like the reason the Patriots lost to the Titans was Brady's play. Offensively they don't have the pieces right now to be an elite offensive team. (It's hilarious to think at one point there was a debate about , back when , , and were the top four wideouts.) Would New England need to improve the parts around Brady to convince him to return? Or would he simply be willing to return with the promise of more money? Do they even want him to return? Will Bill Belichick have the ultimate say? Can Kraft jump in and veto any moves? Is ready to run the offense? Would the Patriots entertain acquiring a different quarterback ( , , , ???)? Will Josh McDaniels be around to run the offense? There are a million moving parts to this situation. Last offseason's negotiations will make this contract more difficult. But we've seen continue to hit the market and then sign up for one-yearThe negotiations last offseason that led to Brady becoming a free agent ahead of 2021 definitely didn't help matters in terms of making things easier moving forward, but if Belichick convinces Bob Kraft to hold firm on his price, it's very po sible the Pats won't give Brady what he needs. If that happens in negotiations, Brady could end up elsewhere. It would be wild to see but it's not completely out of the question.The Pats are the favorite to land Brady again in 2020 for a variety of reasons. But in the event New England wants to play hardball in negotiations, Brady could find himself exploring other options. Maybe someone makes him a sizable financial offer he doesn't want to turn down, while packaging it with other aspects of what a new team can offer.The most "logical" landing spot for Brady outside of New England is the Chargers. It makes zero sense when you say it out loud, because the Chargers are the antithesis of the Patriots. They're an underachieving team that is oftentimes poorly run and very rarely able to provide support for a franchise quarterback in order to make deep playoff runs. In particular, the last 10 years of the Chargers Carlos Santana Jersey is incredibly disappointing. Is Tom Brady really leaving the security of New England to try and turn around the Bolts and make a run? The reasons to join up with the Chargers would be location -- Los Angeles would certainly help him expand his "brand" and he's from California -- as well as finances -- theoretically he could get max dollars on the free agent market, not that money should matter Francisco Rodriguez Jersey to him -- and a desire to win somewhere other than New England. I understand the connection, especially with the Chargers e sentially having already moved on from Philip Rivers. People talk about the talent here, and Keenan Allen/Mike Williams would be top tier wideouts for the Patriots. is an underrated monster. But is gone, the offensive line is not-so-quietly a me s and is out too. Are the Chargers more likely to win the Super Bowl next year than the Patriots? No chance. The Chargers adding Brady would go a long way towards selling tickets in their new stadium. I'm not saying the city of L.A. would latch onto Tom Brady and fill the stadium, but it's not out of the realm of po sibility he would become the top local football draw. This feels simultaneously more and le s logical. The Colts are a more stable organization with a better supporting infrastructure. Jacoby Bri set is under contract, but surely he would understand the logic of bringing in Tom Brady. They're friends, so it could work. T.Y. Hilton is a top tier wideout an
