Hall of Fame QB Sees Titans as Best Fit for Brady
Kurt Warner quarterbacked two teams to the Super Bowl during his Hall of Fame career. So, he knows how difficult it can be.
If Tom Brady really does plan to leave the New England Patriots as a free agent next month, Warner thinks the best thing would be for Brady to sign with the Tennessee Titans. The combination of Tennessee’s success in 2019 and the challenges it is likely to face – or not face – going forward create the easiest path to get back to the championship game in his mind.
Now an analyst with the NFL Network, Warner addressed one of the offseason’s biggest storylines in a roundtable discussion with select reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine on Thursday.
“I probably look at a team like the Titans, and I say to myself, 'Well, they were right there last year, and they've got some pieces we can build off of.' That's probably, in my mind, the best situation of those three that I'm hearing about,” Warner said, according to USA Today. “… I still don't look [for him] to go to the Raiders or the Chargers and have to compete against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs twice every year just to win my division.
"I don't want to have to go through the other great quarterback in the AFC right now twice a year and then possibly have to be the wild card.”
The Titans beat Mahomes and Kansas City during the 2019 regular season and faced them again in the AFC Championship. Tennessee led the rematch for most of the first half but eventually lost 35-24.
"You go to the NFC, there's a lot of guys that you have to go through to win a championship," Warner said. "If you go to the AFC side – Patrick Mahomes is special, but nobody else has shown a championship pedigree on that side of the table."
Brady has spent his entire 20-year career with the Patriots and has been to the Super Bowl nine times (six wins).
Warner went to two Super Bowls with the then-St. Louis Rams (Brady’s first championship was against Warner and the Rams following the 2001 season) and then was the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals when they went in 2008. In between, he played for the New York Giants, a team with which he failed to make the postseason.
"I still believe New England's the best place for him to compete for a championship in the next couple years,” Warner said. “… It's not always easy to change that culture and think it can be done overnight. I just think there's a lot to lose here if you're Tom Brady going somewhere else."
