Tom Brady Planning To Leave Patriots?
The Tom Brady rumor mill keeps on churning. Per ESPN’s Jeff Darlington, Brady has told those close to him that he believes he will leave the Patriots when free agency opens next month.
Darlington’s sources also say that New England will still have an opportunity to make its pitch to Brady, but the 42-year-old passer is currently looking at his potential options with the mindset that he will walk away from the only NFL team that he has ever known. If that happens, it would bring an end to the most prolific dynasty in league history.
A meeting between Brady and Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has not yet been scheduled, Darlington hears. For what it’s worth, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe says that Belichick does not see much sense in talking to the future Hall of Famer until he knows if a new collective bargaining agreement will be ratified (Twitter link). The proposed CBA has been sent to league players for a vote, but the final tally is not expected until early March. That would still give the Pats enough time to sit down with Brady before the legal tampering window opens on March 16, but Brady may have his mind made up by them (after all, agents and teams frequently have back channel discussions well in advance of the tampering period).
Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports says league-wide interest Brady — who is seen as the linchpin of the QB market — is substantial (Twitter link). La Canfora hears Brady’s age is not seen as a deterrent, and plenty of owners are interested in his on-field and off-field value. JLC also says that Brady is willing to listen to any team with a plan for winning in 2020.
The Chargers, Raiders, and Buccaneers have been definitively linked to Brady, though there are surely other teams who would be happy to at least kick the tires. And if Brady does depart Foxborough, the Pats could target Andy Dalton as a potential replacement.
AFC East Notes: Anderson, Dolphins, Patriots
With the Dolphins holding the fifth-overall pick, the team may have to make a trade if they want to select quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. General manager Chris Grier acknowledged that a deal is possible, but he cautioned that trade talks have yet to take place.
“No, not yet, because we’re so early,” Grier told reporters (including Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald). “No team has really met many of these guys yet. So I think until everyone goes through the process, as we’ve talked about, that’s when we’ll make determinations on what’s best for our franchise.”
As Salguero observes, Miami is armed with assets. The team owns three first-rounders and a pair of second-rounders in the upcoming draft, and they also have two first-rounders in 2021.
“We feel good,” Grier said. “History shows with the things we’ve done and the picks we’ve acquired and the money that we feel good about our standing and the flexibility to move up and down or stand pat.
“It’s a conversation that sometimes it happens before you talk and sometimes it might happen when you’re on the clock on draft day. Again, it’s weighing. You look at what’s available, how many players are at that position and available as you’re looking at your board. And then in terms of when you’re doing it in free agency it’s just working with the team and seeing what’s best for your organization.
“It’s a lot of conversations. It’s nothing that’s ever done quickly. And in terms of when [it includes] veteran parts you’re looking at salary cap money, how it’s going to affect the years and length left on contracts.”
Let’s check out some more notes from the AFC East…
- If the Patriots end up seeking a replacement for Tom Brady, Jeff Howe of The Athletic doesn’t believe a move will come via the draft. The reporter opines that the organization doesn’t have/isn’t willing to give up the ammo it’d take to acquire any of the top quarterback prospects, and he’s uncertain the team will take a chance on Jordan Love should he fall in the draft. After that, Howe isn’t convinced that any of the available prospects have a higher-ceiling than Jarrett Stidham, who the team selected in the fourth round of last year’s draft.
- The Jets are going to make an effort to re-sign wideout Robby Anderson, reports Tony Pauline of ProFootballNetwork. However, the 26-year-old could end up commanding big money, especially if Amari Cooper is retained via franchise tag and A.J. Green and/or Emmanuel Sanders are retained by their current teams. In that scenario, Anderson would arguably be the top free agent receiver, and there will be plenty of teams lining up for his services.
- In case you missed it, we learned earlier today that the Bills have expressed interest in free agent cornerback Josh Norman.
AFC North Notes: Bengals, Browns, Hurst
Were Joe Burrow to be drafted by the Bengals, he wants the team to keep A.J. Green. The Bengals are believed to be zeroing in on the Heisman winner, who told NFL.com’s Jim Trotter he would like Green to be back in Cincinnati — if, in fact, the Bengals follow through on drafting the LSU quarterback (video link). The franchise tag window opens Thursday, and the Bengals have been linked to tagging Green. The nine-year veteran has voiced opposition to this, going into his age-32 season, but said he would play on the tag. However, Green also indicated he would likely miss extensive offseason workouts. An injury last summer shelved Green for all of 2019.
Here is the latest from the AFC North:
- The Ravens have seen 2018 third-round tight end Mark Andrews become Lamar Jackson‘s top target, leaving 2018 first-round tight end Hayden Hurst in a strange position. The former minor league baseball player-turned-South Carolina football prospect may be on the trade block, with Jeff Howe of The Athletic tweeting there is a “real chance” the Ravens trade Hurst. The former Pirates draftee played hurt as a rookie and caught 30 passes for 349 yards last season. Andrews caught 64 passes for a Ravens-most 852 yards in 2019. For what it’s worth, the tight end-needy Patriots have not contacted the Ravens about Hurst, Howe adds (on Twitter), but Hurst may be a name to monitor in Baltimore in the coming weeks.
- The Browns will meet with Joe Schobert‘s agent at the Combine, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer notes. After being so far apart on terms with ex-GM John Dorsey, Schobert is back in the picture to stay in Cleveland, Cabot adds. New GM Andrew Berry‘s hire has reopened the lines of communication with the Browns’ top tackler. Cleveland already has Christian Kirksey attached to a big contract, but the linebacker has struggled with injuries since signing that extension and may be a cap casualty.
- David Njoku stands as player who likely would have been gone had Dorsey and Freddie Kitchens stayed in power, Cabot adds. But with Kevin Stefanski planning more two-tight end sets, the 2017 first-round pick looks likelier to stay in Cleveland. Having Berry back doesn’t hurt here, either, with the Sashi Brown-Berry-Paul DePodesta regime being in power when Njoku was drafted.
- Although Dorsey upgraded the Browns’ talent level, his offensive line acquisitions did not pan out. The Browns will not re-sign Greg Robinson, and 2018 right tackle addition Chris Hubbard may be elsewhere next season as well. However, the Browns will likely spend big on at least one offensive lineman, Cabot adds. Jack Conklin, Brandon Scherff and Joe Thuney profile as the top targets who are in line to reach free agency.
Dante Scarnecchia Still Helping Pats
- Dante Scarnecchia cannot seem to stay away. After retiring for the second time in six years, the acclaimed Patriots offensive line coach is at the Combine representing the team, Michael Giardi of NFL.com tweets. The 72-year-old coach retired last month. During his first retirement — which lasted from 2014-15 — Scarnecchia still helped the Pats with scouting.
Three Patriots Change Agents
- Three Patriots are changing agents. Both defensive tackle Danny Shelton and cornerback J.C. Jackson will now be Drew Rosenhaus clients, with Mike Reiss of ESPN.com adding that Pats right tackle Marcus Cannon will be represented by Joby Branion and Eugene Lee. Cannon recently said there is nothing to retirement rumors, and this move points to the 31-year-old blocker coming back for a 10th season. Shelton is an unrestricted free agent, while Jackson is due for restricted free agency in 2021.
Buccaneers Interested In Tom Brady?
He may be 42, but Tom Brady is the linchpin of this year’s quarterback market, as Ben Volin of the Boston Globe writes. Volin says he recently spoke with a source closely connected to a QB (not Brady) who is eligible for free agency, and the source said that every team who is looking for a signal-caller wants to know what Brady is doing before moving on to other options.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that every QB-needy team is interested in Brady, but he is in high demand. And the same source indicated that three teams continue to get mentioned in connection with the six-time Super Bowl champ: the Chargers, the Raiders, and the Buccaneers.
The Chargers’ and Raiders’ interest in Brady has been well-documented, but the rumored Buccaneers interest is a new development. Of course, Tampa Bay has plenty of talent at the skill positions and a highly-respected head coach in Bruce Arians, so there is some logic to a Bucs-Brady partnership.
On the other hand, Tampa does not seem to be one aging QB away from a Super Bowl, so it may be looking for more of a long-term fix. The team is reportedly considering a two-year pact for Jekyll-and-Hyde passer Jameis Winston, and on the surface, it still feels like the Patriots or Chargers are the front-runners for Brady’s services.
Indeed, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com believes the Patriots remain the favorites, because the culture Brady has helped create in New England over the past 20 years is meaningful to him and it may be hard for him to walk away if the Pats come to him with emotion and the sincere intention of re-signing him. ESPN NFL Insider Jeff Darlington recently said Brady likes the idea of perhaps going to a different organization and helping to create a similar culture there — which could help the Bucs if they do pursue Brady — but according to Reiss, those intangible considerations could slant even more heavily in New England’s favor.
In any event, Volin says Brady is relishing his status as the top free agent on the market and his newfound leverage in negotiations with the Patriots, which are expected to begin during or immediately after the upcoming Combine. If the Patriots are inclined to add voidable years to a new deal for Brady like they did last August, they cannot do so unless a new CBA is agreed upon in short order. As Reiss points out, teams cannot use voidable years in the final year of a collective bargaining agreement.
Extra Points: AB, Castonzo, Cowboys, Browns
Antonio Brown will soon be battling the Raiders off the field. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler tweets that the wideout’s grievance against the organization will be heard by an arbitrator in May. Brown filed a grievance over lost wages, including more than $30MM in guaranteed money.
Meanwhile, his grievance against the Patriots has yet to be scheduled, according to Fowler. Brown would be looking to recoup some of his $9MM signing bonus.
Let’s check out some more notes from around the NFL…
- Colts offensive lineman Anthony Castonzo is set to hit free agency, and GM Chris Ballard is confident that the 31-year-old can still contribute for several years. The executive recently said during a radio appearance that the left tackle has three or four years left in the tank (via Albert Breer of SI.com).
- Keith O’Quinn won’t continue as the Cowboys special teams coach, but he’ll stick around with the organization. The veteran coach has accepted the role of director of advance scouting (via Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com). O’Quinn has been with the Cowboys for 13 years, including the past 10 on the coaching staff. He spent the 2018 and 2019 seasons as Cowboys’ ST coach, but he was replaced by John Fassel after Mike McCarthy was hired as head coach.
- The Browns announced today that Jeremy Garrett has been hired as the assistant defensive line coach. He’ll work alongside DL coach Chris Kiffin, who was actually a graduate assistant at Ole Miss back when Garrett was a player. “I think we have both grown as coaches,” Garrett told Andrew Gribble of the team’s website. “I bet night and day he has grown from when he was a GA and coached me, and I have grown from when I was a player and starting off my coaching career. So I think we are both at a point that we have grown a ton and we are looking forward to continuing that growth together.”
Patriots Notes: Draft, McKinney, Ebner
- It’s impossible to guess exactly what any team will do in the draft, especially before free agency starts, but Jeff Howe of The Athletic ran down some potential scenarios for the Patriots. If they stay at No. 23 overall, Howe believes that Alabama safety Xavier McKinney could be a good fit for Bill Belichick‘s defense, making him a potential fit if Devin McCourty leaves in free agency. If the Patriots don’t go for a safety, they could use the pick on a tackle or a defensive lineman. Tight end, Howe writes, is less pressing given the depth of this year’s TE crop.
- Tom Brady is getting all of the headlines, but the Patriots have 19 free agents to address this offseason. That list includes special teams stalwart Nate Ebner, who hopes to stay in New England (via Zach Cox of NESN).
Nate Ebner Wants To Stay With Patriots
- Nate Ebner has spent his entire career with the Patriots, and the special teams ace (and impending free agent) would like to stick with New England. “That would be the best thing, I think, when you consider my entire career has been here,” Ebner told reporters (via NESN’s Zack Cox on Twitter). “I’ve got some true friendships here. … But right now it’s out of my hands, so we’ll see what happens.” The former sixth-rounder has won three Super Bowls during his eight years in New England, and he also earned a second team All-Pro nod in 2016.
Latest On Patriots’ QB Situation
Not much has transpired on the Patriots side of the Tom Brady free agency rumor cycle, but a negotiation timetable has surfaced. The Pats are not expected to discuss a new deal for Brady for multiple weeks, Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston notes, adding that this likely corresponds with the Combine.
The annual scouting showcase/tampering bonanza will give the parties a better indication as to what the future Hall of Famer’s market looks like. The Raiders and Chargers have been the teams most linked to Brady, with the Titans perhaps in play as well. New England, however, is not especially concerned with other teams’ pitches to Brady, per Curran. Their primary objective will be attempting to assemble a better skill-position corps to entice Brady, it appears.
A key part of the Pats’ agenda will be upgrading at tight end after essentially punting on a Rob Gronkowski replacement last year. Acquiring pass-catching help will be a primary Pats goal, Curran notes, adding that Brady is less concerned with other teams’ financial pitches than he is with their roster talent. Austin Hooper, Eric Ebron and Hunter Henry are the top young tight ends available. Though, Henry looms as a possible Chargers tag candidate — which would also factor into the Bolts’ prospective Brady pitch.
As for the scenario where Brady does defect to another team: some around the league view New England as a fit for Andy Dalton, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com notes (video link). The Dalton speculation has surfaced at times this offseason, with NBC Sports’ Peter King viewing a post-Brady partnership between the 32-year-old quarterback and the Patriots as one that would potentially be mutually beneficial.
Dalton is entering his contract year (on a $17.5MM salary), and the Bengals are set to work with their nine-year starter on a trade. Should a Brady departure put this scenario into play, the Pats do not have a second-round pick but may hold three third-rounders because of Trey Flowers‘ and Trent Brown‘s departures in free agency. These late-Day 2 picks could also come in handy for potential trades for tight end or wideout upgrades.