2017 Jimmy G: The Dilemma

Do we keep JG as the successor?

  • Yes, Lifes unsure and Brady might actually be mortal and JG is showing too much promise

    Votes: 90 34.9%
  • We keep him for the life of his contract, If it works out it works out.

    Votes: 55 21.3%
  • Instead we trade JG for a "Tier 1" asset this off season

    Votes: 72 27.9%
  • Instead we trade JG for a "Tier 2" asset this off season

    Votes: 7 2.7%
  • Instead we trade JG for a "Tier 3" asset this off season

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Instead we trade JG for a "Tier 1+" asset this off season

    Votes: 27 10.5%
  • Instead we trade JG for a "Tier 2+" asset this off season

    Votes: 7 2.7%
  • Instead we trade JG for a "Tier 3+" asset this off season

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    258

EdRalphRomero

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Is there any possibility the Patriots are working on a contract extension with JG? It seems to me that if things are baffling, assuming all premises are correct, then you check in on the premises. The idea that the Patriots are counting on Brady, and Brady plans, to be a starting QB for multiple years in his 40's is, obviously, questionable (whatever statements have been made publicly). So yeah, maybe this year will be Brady's last and maybe the Pats want to extend JG and maybe even that post was a little negotiating ploy on JG's part. So many unknowns I comfort myself that most of my unknowns are known to BB. And, frankly, he's got this one.
 

Dr. Gonzo

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I know it was floating around but that extension story has never made any sense to me whatsoever. With three years left on his deal, why extend a QB into his age 43-45 seasons? There is no real salary cap rationale, at least right now.
Here is a post after the Super Bowl from Miguel regarding a Brady extension. He expects the extension in 2018.

Q: What do you expect the extension to look like?
A: Expect it to add two more years to his deal so that he would then be signed through the 2021 season. Would expect the 2020/2021 seasons to contain 46-man active roster bonuses. Expect that the 30 million in cash that is due Brady for the 2018 and 2019 season would be given to him as a signing bonus.
 

BigJimEd

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Again, all of this comes down to what the Patriots think JG is. But if there is a group of people anywhere that have an idea as to what his ceiling could be, it's the people saying, "We aren't fucking trading this guy"
But it doesn't ALL come down to that.

As others have said, it also comes down to Brady. Both aren't going to be on this roster a couple years from now.
 

PC Drunken Friar

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If there is any chance Schefter is right, is there a chance that Brissett is the guy that is moved? Curious what his value would be compared to JG - but I would assume less than the 12th overall and maybe 2 2nds.
Brissett's value right now is not worth moving. Why the hell would a team give up 2 Second rounders? He was a third rounder a year ago and showed that he MAY be a viable back-up QB for the next couple of years.
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

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I think you argued last year that the Patriots should extend JG and I thought it was nuts at the time. There are a lot of signals from the Patriots that you might be right on this. My only question is, how do you see this working in 2018? Do you think it's realistic that JG signs an extension and Brady is still on the team. Do they franchise him and pay over $20 million for a backup? The 2018 plan makes no sense to me. You don't seem to be arguing that they will move on from Brady.
I did make that argument.

My guess?

I don't think the Patriots know yet, and I think they're "hoping" it resolves itself. I would think the scenario they're hoping for would be for Brady's play to drop this year from MVP caliber to top-10 QB. Good enough to win, but this can be shown as proof of an imminent decline, thus validating using the franchise tag on JG. Brady plays one more year after (probably not regaining any "MVP" level of play), and then the reigns are officially passed to JG.

Quite frankly, I don't look at paying JG $20 million in a vacuum. Is paying your backup QB that much money absurd? Yes. Is paying your backup QB and your starting QB a total of $30 million absurd? Much less so. Brady's contract gives them the a lot of flexibility in allocating their assets to the QB group.

Now, if Brady performs at an MVP level for the next two years, you have a real problem on your hands. Brady's going to want an extension, JG is going to want a starting gig, and the Patriots are going to have to make a decision. The Patriots are gambling right now. Potential heir franchise-QB & father time Vs draft picks. Like any other gamble, we have no idea where the chips will fall, but I think the Patriots are making clear how they think this is going to play itself out by holding onto JG. In my opinion, its the right play.
 

DJnVa

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If there is any chance Schefter is right, is there a chance that Brissett is the guy that is moved? Curious what his value would be compared to JG - but I would assume less than the 12th overall and maybe 2 2nds.
Well, *if* they think this is it for Brady, then why not hold Brissett as #3 this year and #2 next?

Lots of suppositions though.
 

pappymojo

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Maybe it is Belichick who is thinking of retirement and he wants to leave his successor with as many options as possible.
 

Dr. Gonzo

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I did make that argument.
Quite frankly, I don't look at paying JG $20 million in a vacuum. Is paying your backup QB that much money absurd? Yes. Is paying your backup QB and your starting QB a total of $30 million absurd? Much less so. Brady's contract gives them the a lot of flexibility in allocating their assets to the QB group.
.
Brady's 2018 cap number is $22 million per Miguel which would mean they would have $43 million in cap space tied up at quarterback with Jacoby and a franchised Jimmy. If the salary cap goes up another $12 million like it did this year, the cap will be at $179 million in 2018. The $43 million dollar number would represent 24% of your cap space in 2018 and I don't believe it would make sense to go that route just on numbers.
 

pappymojo

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(Hot take alert).Yes, even for 4 first round picks. The draft is a crap shoot. Lets pretend they get really, really lucky with their picks. Lets say they get 1 All-Pro, 1 pro-bowler, and 2 very serviceable starters. Put that haul on a team with a mediocre QB, and you still have a mediocre team.
The Texans made the playoffs last year. :)
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

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Brady's 2018 cap number is $22 million per Miguel which would mean they would have $43 million in cap space tied up at quarterback with Jacoby and a franchised Jimmy. If the salary cap goes up another $12 million like it did this year, the cap will be at $179 million in 2018. The $43 million dollar number would represent 24% of your cap space in 2018 and I don't believe it would make sense to go that route just on numbers.
Two things:

First, the Patriots can "extend" Brady to push some of that money out, and then cut/trade him after. In other words, leave dead money on the books for a few years to lighten the burden on the 2018 salary cap.

Second, the Patriots biting the salary cap bullet for one year in order to keep a franchise QB for another 10 is certainly a bullet worth taking.
 

InstaFace

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If there is any chance Schefter is right, is there a chance that Brissett is the guy that is moved? Curious what his value would be compared to JG - but I would assume less than the 12th overall and maybe 2 2nds.
Very much doubt that. Brissett was largely confined to handing off against Houston, and watching his defense go wreak havoc on Osweiler. The next week of course is predictive of nothing. But, in total, he didn't show off nearly as much talent as Garoppolo, so there's far less reason to believe he can walk in and be a top-half NFL starter than there is for Garoppolo. He's worth a lot more to New England (who has way more information on him) than he could even plausibly be to any other team.
 

joe dokes

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Quite frankly, I don't look at paying JG $20 million in a vacuum. Is paying your backup QB that much money absurd? Yes. Is paying your backup QB and your starting QB a total of $30 million absurd? Much less so. Brady's contract gives them the a lot of flexibility in allocating their assets to the QB group.
This is an excellent point. More importantly, it seems to jibe with a reasonable guess as to how BB would see it.

Another unknowable in all this is what JG wants out of all this. Nobody grows up wanting to have Terry Hanratty's pro career. And the likelihood is that he wants the shot at (and the $$$ from) being #1. But if they use Brady's $$ flexibility to pay JG $5M/yr to stick around as insurance for awhile, maybe he's good with that. OTOH--Maybe he wants to get out of Dodge as soon as possible, because "the guy who comes after Tom Brady" is going to have an impossible job. No one knows the answer to this, but it seems to get left out of the discussion.
Charlie Whitehurst has career earnings over $17M.

The only certainty is that this is a unique situation (at least to my memory). So there really aren't any good comparators.
 

gammoseditor

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The 2018 picture with JG and Brady on the team doesn't make sense to me. You'd nearly be paying JG what Hightower and Butler would cost combined. Or you could trade JG for a haul now. We'll see.
 

Harry Hooper

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As mentioned above, maybe Brady has told the team he really wants to be able to spend more time with his folks, so this will be his last year with the Pats. Then he's either going to retire or ask for a trade to a team out West.

Brady ultimately cannot defy Father Time nor can he defy the time it takes a private jet to fly back and forth across the country. Tom needing to be closer to his parents' locale certainly gives the Pats a great fig leaf for any trade to a team much closer to his folks' home.
 

dcmissle

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It has been a good bet all along that Werder, then Schefter, were right all along. Reasonable people can differ on what is the right approach. My guess has been that BB is playing this year to year and that JG stays. Because the long term risks of failure at this position are too great, and because Tom is 40. But I won't be surprised either way. It's worth noting that Schefter is getting more and more dug in his position.
 

Hoodie Sleeves

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But it doesn't ALL come down to that.

As others have said, it also comes down to Brady. Both aren't going to be on this roster a couple years from now.
If the Patriots think that JG will be a top tier QB in the NFL, then Brady should be pretty much irrelevant.

I love Brady, he's the best that's ever been, but he's on borrowed time. If they think they have the quarterback of the future(10+ years), they absolutely should not let him go. If it comes down to franchising JG next year, and him holding out unless he gets to start, then you give Brady the talk, and the option to retire, or go elsewhere.

The only way you let JG go is if you think he ISNT the guy. The cap ramifications of spending $40M on QBs for one year is just so tiny compared to the ramifications of not having an above average quarterback for several years.
 

grimshaw

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Brissett's value right now is not worth moving. Why the hell would a team give up 2 Second rounders? He was a third rounder a year ago and showed that he MAY be a viable back-up QB for the next couple of years.
I'm trying to think along with the Browns which is sort of like trying to follow a Charles Manson interview. If they are intent on acquiring a QB via trade, seemingly by stacking up as many draft picks as possible - and JG truly isn't available - then who can they possibly be targeting?
 

bakahump

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The Texans made the playoffs last year. :)

Right.

For whatever reason there are very few "Elite QBs" in the league the last few years. Even less then there normally is.

"Young and Elite Guys" are probably Rodgers (Barely cause he aint young), Ryan, Wilson, Maybe Luck, Carr assuming he continues to grow and comes back from injury.

Then its Cam Newton, Eli Manning (who probably isnt in this catagory any more) Kaepernick (who fell off the table) types who flash greatness.

You then have the Tyrod Taylers and Tannehill mediocrity.

With Carson Wentz fitting somewhere in those last 2 categories.

Then you have Dreck.

Thats what BB and "Mediocre Brady Replacement X" would be up against. Not Manning, Brees, In his Prime Rodgers, Very Good Carson Palmer types.

I guess you could argue that Jimmy G as a Young and Elite or "Flashes Greatness" type keeps the Pats in the top 5 teams in the league.

You could also argue that losing both Brady and Jimmy G.....and having a Mediocre Brisset or TDB QB Pretty much puts you on the same footing as at least 28-30 other teams in this league. Mix in BB, his coaching, his roster building and the Pats Game planning and they vault up into the top 6-10 teams in the league.

Long story long...I am thinking that the Rich Gannon and Joe Flacco quality QBs will be making and winning SBs much more frequently in the next 10 years. The Pats may feel strongly that they can acquire a QB of that talent level and stay very relevant. Especially if the rest of the team is bolstered by high draft picks.
 

heavyde050

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Curious why you don't think JG can be a top 5 in the league?

We're talking small samples sizes here, but his play this year was absolutely elite.
I don't think he can be top 5 because it is tough to be that good.
Hypothetically if he is the starting QB for the Pats in 2018, I can think of five other QB's that I would rather have than Jimmy. (Rodgers, Luck, Ryan, Carr, Wilson).
But to your point the five guys I would prefer aren't being traded to the Pats.
I am not saying Jimmy is Mark Sanchez, but I am not ready to call him Steve Young either.
He is a really good young QB, and whatever BB decides I am sure will work out to some degree.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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I'm trying to think along with the Browns which is sort of like trying to follow a Charles Manson interview. If they are intent on acquiring a QB via trade, seemingly by stacking up as many draft picks as possible - and JG truly isn't available - then who can they possibly be targeting?
Every QB in the next two drafts. Has to be at least one winner in the group.
 

PaulinMyrBch

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I keep thinking maybe there has been some behind the scenes discussion where JG and the organization have some working understanding that there will be some transitional contract offered that would satisfy him until he's the starter. But there are so many obstacles to that thought, it seems unlikely. Can I see where JG would rather be the starter in NE for 8 years rather than the starter in Cleveland for 10? Sure. Can I see him giving up some money on the front end to do that? Yes. But how that actually materializes seems like a reach.

This may be as simple as BB thinks his value as the backup for one year is too great to give up with the current development of JB. He may see that situation being completely different in one year. But it is hard to remove from my brain those quotes from BB this year where he talks about practice reps and how if you weren't aware of who was at QB, you wouldn't know the difference. BB got a healthy dose of JG as the starter for practice reps for 2 months. He's got as good an opinion on this as possible. So keeping him now makes me think JG will be the QB of the Pats on opening day 2027.
 

simplyeric

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If the Patriots think that JG will be a top tier QB in the NFL, then Brady should be pretty much irrelevant.

I love Brady, he's the best that's ever been, but he's on borrowed time. If they think they have the quarterback of the future(10+ years), they absolutely should not let him go. If it comes down to franchising JG next year, and him holding out unless he gets to start, then you give Brady the talk, and the option to retire, or go elsewhere.

The only way you let JG go is if you think he ISNT the guy. The cap ramifications of spending $40M on QBs for one year is just so tiny compared to the ramifications of not having an above average quarterback for several years.
I'm not sure that's true.

It's not unreasonable to think Brady has 2 years of top 5 level play, followed by 2 years of "quite good" (top 1/3?),
Yes it's unprecedented, but it's not unreasonable. Hell you might even get another year or two of "reliable game manager who doesn't throw interceptions and has the occasional vintage level game".

Do you take 4 years of high-level QB play (with the uncertainty that he might fall off faster than that) plus any trade haul from JG (which would improve the team in other areas)?

or

Do you take the possibility of 10 years of top tier QB play, without that draft pick?

Both are uncertain. Obviously if you knew JG was going to a. be top tier, and b. be top tier for 10 years, maybe you figure out how to make the transition. But it's not like JG is a sure thing, even if they have the utmost confidence in the guy.

We could trade JG to Cleveland and watch him be a top-tier QB over the next 10 years or less (injury...), and still watch Brady go from best to great to quite good to good enough over 5-6 of those, and meet Cleveland in the playoffs during some of those season.

I'll sign on for that.

*again, I know projecting Brady to still be playing 6 years from now might seem crazy, and I'm not sure that BB should actually count on that (assuming Brady wants it). But I bet BB has projected out what he sees as a best case scenario (not pine in the sky) that sees Brady on the field in 5 years. And JG as top-5 QB for the next 10 years is at least as "best case".


snip
So keeping him now makes me think JG will be the QB of the Pats on opening day 2027.
This is what I mean. Projecting JG as top-tier QB out 10 years is pretty bold. Even if BB thinks JG really is a top-five guy, what % do you think he'd put on JG still being in there 10 years from now?
 

pappymojo

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I'm trying to think along with the Browns which is sort of like trying to follow a Charles Manson interview. If they are intent on acquiring a QB via trade, seemingly by stacking up as many draft picks as possible - and JG truly isn't available - then who can they possibly be targeting?
Cousins and Romo would seem to be options, but if the Browns are Chares Manson, the Redskins are Jeffrey Dahmer.
 

HomeRunBaker

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But it doesn't ALL come down to that.

As others have said, it also comes down to Brady. Both aren't going to be on this roster a couple years from now.
I feel we can carry both on larger deals for one season which gives us the next two years of this tandem. By the 2019 season you'd have to imagine Brady shows some level of decline but even if he doesn't I've always felt that HE would be the one traded (with respect to his agreement on the team) while finishing his career off in a different setting like many of the all-time great QB's.....Montana, Unitas, Manning, Favre, etc. Too many people have been discounting this possibility which to me has felt the most natural for awhile now.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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I feel we can carry both on larger deals for one season which gives us the next two years of this tandem. By the 2019 season you'd have to imagine Brady shows some level of decline but even if he doesn't I've always felt that HE would be the one traded (with respect to his agreement on the team) while finishing his career off in a different setting like many of the all-time great QB's.....Montana, Unitas, Manning, Favre, etc. Too many people have been discounting this possibility which to me has felt the most natural for awhile now.
I agree on carrying two larger deals for at least one season.

Even with the Patriots' activity, we still have a lot of 2017 cap space and that can be rolled over into 2018 as well. So that could be a big part of the calculus right now. I also think (and have argued this many times previously in this thread) that something like a 2/20 or 2/24 deal for JG to spread out that hit over 2017-18 and allow him to lock in a little security could make sense for both sides.
 

leetinsley38

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I feel we can carry both on larger deals for one season which gives us the next two years of this tandem. By the 2019 season you'd have to imagine Brady shows some level of decline but even if he doesn't I've always felt that HE would be the one traded (with respect to his agreement on the team) while finishing his career off in a different setting like many of the all-time great QB's.....Montana, Unitas, Manning, Favre, etc. Too many people have been discounting this possibility which to me has felt the most natural for awhile now.
Brady himself has acknowledged this as very real end game possibility too: Tom Brady: If Patriots Don’t Want Me One Day, Maybe Another Team Will
We could very well have 2018 and 2019 "Jimmy G: The Dilemma" threads as BB holds onto both assets, gathers more info and let's this play out.
 

PaulinMyrBch

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Does anyone think we'll see the Brady in decline years? Do we think Tom Brady, who has been every level of awesome, is going to subject football fans to watching him play a few years like Favre/Manning/Montana did at the end of their careers. I think he wants to play 3-5 more years, but in reality I think he leaves when he internally feels things starting to decline, but before his stats and the public see it. In that case, I don't think he plays as long as he wants, but plays as long as it is practical to be the Tom Brady we all know. In which case, I think it is 2 more max.
 

dcmissle

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Does anyone think we'll see the Brady in decline years? Do we think Tom Brady, who has been every level of awesome, is going to subject football fans to watching him play a few years like Favre/Manning/Montana did at the end of their careers. I think he wants to play 3-5 more years, but in reality I think he leaves when he internally feels things starting to decline, but before his stats and the public see it. In that case, I don't think he plays as long as he wants, but plays as long as it is practical to be the Tom Brady we all know. In which case, I think it is 2 more max.
Or to go back further in time, Unitas and Namath? I do not. Brady strikes me as too smart for this.

Which is why I never worry about the situation getting ugly here. When TB is not playing up to his standards, or playing below the performance level of his back-up, I believe he will step aside.
 

pappymojo

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Brady's decline could happen in the middle of the season, though, or at least take him by surprise. Or he could go through a bad stretch to start a season where people assume he has declined.

 

BigJimEd

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I feel we can carry both on larger deals for one season which gives us the next two years of this tandem. By the 2019 season you'd have to imagine Brady shows some level of decline but even if he doesn't I've always felt that HE would be the one traded (with respect to his agreement on the team) while finishing his career off in a different setting like many of the all-time great QB's.....Montana, Unitas, Manning, Favre, etc. Too many people have been discounting this possibility which to me has felt the most natural for awhile now.
Fair enough of you think they are willing to carry them both at a high price in 2018. I'm not ruling it out but I think they'd have to be pretty sure they were moving on from Brady after that.


If the Patriots think that JG will be a top tier QB in the NFL, then Brady should be pretty much irrelevant.
I guess that depends on just how much you think of Garappolo. If you are extremely confident he can step in and be a top 3-5 QB for 10 years then yes aside from PR, Brady is pretty much irrelevant.
On the other hand if you are confident Garapollo can be a top 10 then how long and how high level you think Brady can play is relevant.
 

Ed Hillel

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If BB really does turn down a massive offer from Cleveland, my best guess is his plans are to move forward with Jimmy in 2018 and trade Brady. I understand wanting to have the insurance in case Brady gets injured or falters, but turning down the 12 and other high round picks has to outweigh his value as single-season insurance. Maybe BB has just determined he's going to let Brady possibly have another good 2-3 seasons elsewhere in favor of a much younger, talented QB.

But I still think Jimmy gets traded soon.
 

NortheasternPJ

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If BB really does turn down a massive offer from Cleveland, my best guess is his plans are to move forward with Jimmy in 2018 and trade Brady. I understand wanting to have the insurance in case Brady gets injured or falters, but turning down the 12 and other high round picks has to outweigh his value as single-season insurance. Maybe BB has just determined he's going to let Brady possibly have another good 2-3 seasons elsewhere in favor of a much younger, talented QB.

But I still think Jimmy gets traded soon.
It'd be interesting watching Brady trying to run his offense on a new team that had no clue what the hell he was talking about or how to implement the system. I don't see BB sending him to Houston to run a similar offense.
 

Marciano490

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I wonder how much all time records will factor into this for Brady. He's 2 great seasons and 3 good seasons away from the all time TD (83 behind) and Yards (10,300ish) records. Of course, Brees is ahead of him in both categories and still active, but I can't imagine being that close would make it any easier for Tom to retire after a year or two.
 

Stitch01

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I personally think the idea that Kraft is going to sign off on pushing Brady out the door at the end of '17 if he's playing at a high level is pretty farfetched. QB value is important enough that Im fine with forgoing trading Jimmy G now for insurance against Brady getting hurt or falling off a cliff this year, but the idea of transitioning to JimmyG in 2018 barring a deterioration in Brady's performance this year seems like fantasyland.
 

NortheasternPJ

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I personally think the idea that Kraft is going to sign off on pushing Brady out the door at the end of '17 if he's playing at a high level is pretty farfetched. QB value is important enough that Im fine with forgoing trading Jimmy G now for insurance against Brady getting hurt or falling off a cliff this year, but the idea of transitioning to JimmyG in 2018 barring a deterioration in Brady's performance this year seems like fantasyland.
It will be interesting to see how far BB having full control of Football Operations really goes if he wants to do it. He ditched Bledsoe 4 championships ago after just signing the richest contract in NFL history and Bledsoe was closer to the Krafts than Mike Reiss is today.
 

Super Nomario

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I personally think the idea that Kraft is going to sign off on pushing Brady out the door at the end of '17 if he's playing at a high level is pretty farfetched. QB value is important enough that Im fine with forgoing trading Jimmy G now for insurance against Brady getting hurt or falling off a cliff this year, but the idea of transitioning to JimmyG in 2018 barring a deterioration in Brady's performance this year seems like fantasyland.
I wonder this, too. Brady bought a house in Kraft's neighborhood a couple years ago. Kraft has described him as like another son. It is probably not an exaggeration to say he has made Kraft hundreds of millions of dollars. He has probably made Belichick tens of millions.
 

pappymojo

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I don't think Belichick will trade Brady, but if he were to trade him, I think he would try to find as good of a landing spot for Brady as he could.
 

BigJimEd

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We're all going to be scratching our heads when the Pats just let JG walk as a UFA next March
I hope not.
I did hear Polian talking about if Cleveland was willing to give up 2 firsts and 2 seconds, Patriots might not take it if they thought Garappolo might help them this year. Even if they were going to let him walk as an UFA next year. I just think Polian is an idiot.
 

Captaincoop

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I hope not.
I did hear Polian talking about if Cleveland was willing to give up 2 firsts and 2 seconds, Patriots might not take it if they thought Garappolo might help them this year. Even if they were going to let him walk as an UFA next year. I just think Polian is an idiot.
It's going to be so tremendous when Cleveland finally buckles under and gives the Pats #1 and #12 for Jimmy G.
 

dcdrew10

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With the talk of trading Brady I have to wonder if he would rather retire than go somewhere else. On one hand I think he's probably the ultimate "Fuck you, I'll prove you wrong" kind of guy, but on the other would he put up with a team/coach that doesn't eat/drink/breathe football? Look at how much he screams at people in game and these are people he respects and has played with for years and who know what he expects. That's a team culture and takes years to develop. How many years did it take Edelman to gain his trust? I know people like to mock "the Patriot Way" but would Brady settle for anything less? I can't see Brady putting up with anything else, especially at this point in his career and life. Like I said, he might be open to a change of scenery because he is a competitor and wants to prove something, but it takes more than one player to build a culture in an organization.
 

E5 Yaz

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There are only two ways Brady leaves the Patriots -- retirement or injury.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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I personally think the idea that Kraft is going to sign off on pushing Brady out the door at the end of '17 if he's playing at a high level is pretty farfetched. QB value is important enough that Im fine with forgoing trading Jimmy G now for insurance against Brady getting hurt or falling off a cliff this year, but the idea of transitioning to JimmyG in 2018 barring a deterioration in Brady's performance this year seems like fantasyland.
This is the boat I'm in. There's no way Kraft signs off on it. And I don't even think there's much chance they bench him if he starts to decline in the remaining three years on his deal. He is the exception to the rules in Foxboro.

If they decide to keep JG and then try to tag and trade him next season, it wouldn't shock me. I don't see them carrying him on the franchise tender for 2018 and devoting $20M+ on a bench spot - it's antithetical to the way BB runs a team. I don't think BB is going to be around much longer than Brady as it is, so I'm not sure he worries too much about the state of the roster 10 years down the road. That's not to say he will be irresponsible in any capacity, but I don't think he would be looking that far ahead (really in any scenario, he knows how quickly the league can change).

If I were the Pats, I would let Yee talk to the Browns about an extension, provided of course Garappolo would be ok extending with them. Let him hammer out terms and come back to the Pats. If it's something like an Osweiller deal, which I would assume would be his floor, I probably wish him well, take the picks and move on. If he'd be willing to take a little less to be the successor and they can structure it so that the heavy cap hits come after Brady is presumably off the books, then I extend him. But I'm not sure how realistic that is.
 

simplyeric

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Does anyone think we'll see the Brady in decline years? Do we think Tom Brady, who has been every level of awesome, is going to subject football fans to watching him play a few years like Favre/Manning/Montana did at the end of their careers. I think he wants to play 3-5 more years, but in reality I think he leaves when he internally feels things starting to decline, but before his stats and the public see it. In that case, I don't think he plays as long as he wants, but plays as long as it is practical to be the Tom Brady we all know. In which case, I think it is 2 more max.
Definitely don't think we'll see Brady in years when he'd be as bad as Favre or Manning were at the end.

Thing is, Favre made lots of bad decisions. Was his very last pass thrown a from-the-hip interception in true Favre style?

And Manning was just physically decimated.

I don't see Brady trying to play if he's decimated in the manner of Manning, and I don't think he'll ever become the bad decision-maker that Favre was.

If they can protect Brady in the pocket, and keep reliable receivers around him, he can continue to make hay with his typical great ability to read the D and make decisions, and have the short-route timing. He's never been an arm-strength guy like Favre slinging it out there, so yeah losing/reducing the long game will matter, but not as much as for some other folks.

I'm not saying "oh TB12 will be at the top of the game for 5 more years". I'm just saying that I think he has the ability to continue to be a very effective QB even as he continues to age, unless he just falls down the slope physically (can't recover between games, or gets banged up and can't rehab).
 

natpastime162

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I purposely tuned out the media storm around DFG. What was Schefter's role in that? Just wondering if BB might be willing to burn a bridge, or even be messing with him for sport.

Like @cshea said, the lack of equivocation from Schefter is notable, and I assume it reflects a similar lack of equivocation by well-placed sources.
The only thing I remember specifically was him saying during the investigation that the league was having a hard time finding anyone to pin anything on.
Just to add, I remember Schefter being one of the few ESPN reporters that didn't carry the NFL's water during DFG. He wasn't sanctimonious (i.e. Werder) or a completely irresponsible luddite (i.e. Mortenson). As a casual observer, I would like to believe he has credibility in the eyes of the Organization. Specifically, I remember this tweet:

NFL Spokesman Greg Aiello refuted his report

Schefter answered by telling him to kindly fuck off

Florio discussed this in an article he wrote about the NFL's inconsistent response to erroneous reporting.