Super Bowl 54 has come and gone & with that, all eyes are already looking forward to early March when the NFL’s new league year officially begins & teams can officially sign, release, trade players & prepare for the NFL Combine & the NFL Draft in late-April.
The biggest story of the off-season is unarguably the future of 6-time Super Bowl champion, Tom Brady. With that, the question is, does he return to the only team he’s known for the last 2 decades or does he do what other all-time greats, Joe Montana & Peyton Manning did & move onto a new challenge to finish out his career?
Let’s jump into it.
My best bet, would be that Patriots owner Robert Kraft empties out the checkbook & gives Tom Brady something along the lines of a 2-year, $40-$50 million dollar deal to ensure the future first-ballot Hall of Famer finishes out his storied career in New England.
Next, the Patriots have a couple of important pending free-agents that have been key-cogs on one of the best defenses in Football over the past few seasons in Safety Devin McCourty & Linebacker Kyle Van Noy. The Patriots have enough cap-room to afford to bring these guys back for 2-3 years each to make another run at a 7th Lombardi trophy & I believe GM Bill Belichick will bring both guys back which means one of the better Offensive Guards in the league, Joe Thuney will more then likely be expendable as another team will more then likely outbid the Patriots.
One of the reasons I believe they’ll allow Thuney to move on in free-agency is because it’s been widely reported that Tom Brady is willing to take lesser money from the Patriots if the team spends draft capitol & money on veteran weapons for him…something he was severely lacking this season & in the minds of many, is the main reason the Patriots were uncharacteristically eliminated from the Playoffs before the AFC Championship game for the first time in a decade.
Let’s now take a quick-look at the best possible weapon that may entice Brady & the Patriots can potentially bring in to appease him…
The ‘sexiest’ realistic option is Browns Wide Receiver, Odell Beckham Jr. The star-receiver out of LSU has been linked with the Patriots since before he was traded from the New York Giants to his current Cleveland Browns team, before last season began. Beckham is also very good friends with the aforementioned Brady as the pair often communicates publicly via social media. The Patriots would more then likely have to part with the 23rd overall selection in this April’s upcoming Draft to acquire the former Pro-Bowler but Beckham’s much better then any player the Patriots would draft this year, gives the Patriots their best complete offensive weapon since Randy Moss’ departure in 2009, is only 27-years old & makes a modest $14 million dollars over each of the next 4 seasons.
Now, the team has re-signed Brady, McCourty & Van Noy, traded their 1st round draft choice for Odell Beckham Jr while letting starting Offensive Guard Joe Thuney depart via free-agency. Where does that leave the team?
The Patriots don’t own a 2nd-round draft pick this season because of their mid-season trade for Falcons Wide-Receiver, Mohamed Sanu, last season. So, without a draft choice until the end of the 3rd-round, the Patriots are going to be short on young talent, but I believe it’s still in their best interest to make these moves to not only appease Brady, but to have a great shot at snagging that 7th Lombardi trophy to solidify themselves as unarguably the best franchise in NFL history.
What do YOU think about the Patriots off-season? Should they move on from Brady? Should they bring him back? Who should they re-sign, sign or trade? Let me know on Twitter @tvttedwhiteboy!
