There's no I in Brady

Is he perfect? Yes. He is.

 

I’ll start by saying; let’s not weep for Tom Brady. While he’s reworked his contract in a way that frees up cap space the Patriots can use to keep or add talented players to their roster, Brady also winds up with $57m guaranteed over the next five years.

Brady’s new contract is a win-win. Or win-win-win. Win-win-win-win?

Brady will remain a Patriot for life. Without this deal there was always the possibility Brady might have finished his career with the Arizona Cardinals. (We don’t really think they’re solving their QB problems any time soon, do we?) Patriots’ fans have seen Drew Bledsoe traded, Lawyer Milloy unceremoniously cut, Richard Seymour and Mike Vrabel traded, Ty Law, Willie McGinest and Asante Samuel leave with tire left on the tread. Maybe you talked yourself into believing that Brady was different. New England would never trade Tom Brady. That would be crazy! Bill Belichick calls him Tommy! Then you realized, yeah, that could happen. You’ve seen it before. If ever there was another Herschel Walker trade waiting to happen, it was Tom Brady for multiple picks and multiple players in 2014. The only question was which team would be desperate enough to make an offer Bill Belichick would not refuse. All of us who root for the Patriots should be grateful. Belichick traded Bledsoe in the division to the Buffalo Bills. Are you picturing Tom Brady in a Jets’ uniform? Well stop it. That is not happening.

The Patriots have locked up one of the greatest to ever play the QB position for the next five years. I’ve no doubt that Brady is capable of playing at a high level at 40 years of age. I think the only way we don’t see Brady on the field in 2017 is if the Patriots win another Super Bowl before then. Actually, I think it will take two Super Bowl wins in the next four years for Brady to retire before his 40^th birthday.

Cap space. The Patriots have it now. The likelihood of Wes Welker returning, of Sebastian Vollmer returning, of keeping Aqib Talib or replacing him with Nnamdi Asomugha should the Eagles let him go just increased by about $8m. Perhaps the Pats could think about wide receivers like Greg Jennings, Mike Wallace or Dwayne Bowe. I know I am.

Brady raises his profile in the locker room – if that’s possible. Do you want to play with Tom Brady, a future HOF QB who made winning the Super Bowl a priority over his own paycheck or sign for more money with a team starting a QB to be named later? The good teams can’t afford you because they’ve got $20m of their cap tied up in their starting QB. As noted above, we need not weep for Tom Brady as he will pocket 57 double-large thanks to his new contract. Regardless, this is a team first move that gives New England the ability to slice a little cheddar for the 52 other guys on the roster. It means the team will be able to add the pieces they need to continue to compete for the Lombardi Trophy in 2013 and beyond. You can bank the Benjamins or you can win a ring but you can’t always do both.

There’s been some talk that Brady’s “below market” deal would cause problems among the rank and file of the NFLPA but I think this is overblown. One of the unwritten rules of the NFL and its players is that you never get into somebody else’s business. Tom’s deal is Tom’s deal. Every situation is different. Will Joe Flacco get less money because of Tom Brady’s contract? I don’t think so. Does Wes Welker have less leverage now than he had before in his negotiations with New England? I’d say the Patriots know what they’re willing to pay Welker and Brady’s deal hasn’t changed that.

Granted, the Patriots still have to get it right in free agency. It would be nice to hit on a couple of draft picks, too.

But this, as I believe Billy Shakespeare once said, is a nice start.