NFL Rumors: Tom Brady May Meet With Interested Teams in One Location
If you were expecting Tom Brady's decision this offseason to be like LeBron James' "The Decision" back in 2010, think again.
Brady will draw interest from a couple teams, if not several, during free agency for his services in 2020. The Raiders, Chargers, and Titans are all rumored to be teams that will pursue him when it is legal to do so, which is on March 16 (that's when the tampering window opens). But according to one report, instead of traveling around the country to hear any pitches organizations may want to give him, the 42-year-old QB may opt to have those teams come to him instead.
Here's what Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports wrote about that scenario on Monday:
"I’ve also heard we shouldn’t be expecting TOM BRADY FREE AGENT TOUR 2020: COAST-TO-COAST WITH THE GOAT! If Brady hits free agency, he may try to set up meetings at one location instead of creating a circus. That’s a 'what I’m hearing…' so take it for what that’s worth."
While it was just an informed opinion by Curran, there is weight to what he said regardless. If there's one person to trust with an informed opinion, it's Curran. Also, the idea that Brady may make teams come to him makes total sense.
If the rumors are true about what Brady wants from the Patriots in order to re-sign with them, then it will take an incredible pitch from another organization, one that probably doesn't exist, in order to coerce Brady away from New England. It was reported by Curran in the same article that the Patriots "aren't worried" about other team's financial pitches to the six-time Super Bowl champion QB. Why? It's simple - New England doesn't need to outbid another team in order to keep Brady. They just need to add enough offensive weapons around him to retain him.
So, it would take a hefty contract offer and some other incentives from another franchise in order to snatch Brady out of the hands of Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft. That's why Brady wants other teams to travel to him to make their pitches, because he wants them to show him how badly they want him, if Curran's "what I'm hearing" is actually true. But even doing that at this point doesn't seem like it will be enough to convince Brady to wear a different uniform in 2020. The fact that he's been in New England for two decades weighs heavily in the Patriots' favor, which makes it more and more likely as the days go on that he will remain a Patriot for his 21st season in the NFL.
