Tom Brady - Pro Football Rumors

Tom Brady Market Down To Patriots, Buccaneers, Chargers?

March 16th, 2020 at 11:08am CST by Sam Robinson

The tampering window has opened, and Tom Brady‘s options are narrowed. The Patriots legend is down to the Buccaneers, Chargers or a Pats return, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

Several teams were linked to the 42-year-old superstar, but the 49ers and Raiders balked and the Titans — perhaps the most closely linked suitor — ended up extending Ryan Tannehill.

The Patriots also extended Devin McCourty and used their franchise tag on guard Joe Thuney, tying up funds going into the tampering period. Brady’s contract will void once the new league year starts at 3pm CT Wednesday. While the new CBA will allow the Pats to spread Brady’s $13.5MM cap hit out through 2021, the future Hall of Famer not re-signing by Wednesday afternoon will make matters tougher for the perennial power.

Both the Bucs and Bolts have the Pats outflanked in cap space, and each team has extensive skill-position weaponry under contract. The Chargers also took Hunter Henry, a potential Patriots target, off the market. Still, the exits of the 49ers and Titans figure to help the Patriots in their efforts to keep the all-time great. New England has also surfaced as a potential buyer in deals for wideouts or tight ends.

49ers Out On Tom Brady?

March 15th, 2020 at 3:57pm CST by Marc Delucchi

Sources have told NBC Sports’ Chris Simms that the 49ers are not going to sign quarterback Tom Brady. The Patriots legend, obviously, is entering free agency for the first time in his career and has been tied to San Francisco for some time. Brady grew up in the Bay Area and following Jimmy Garoppolo‘s struggles in the Super Bowl, many people were connecting the two.

While Simms noted he was unclear if anything had changed over the past few days, he stated that the 49ers were Brady’s preferred destination, but the organization plans to stick with Garoppolo. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports added in the aftermath of Simms’ report that the Titans and 49ers interest was “always more smoke than fire.”

Simms is a longtime friend of 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and this may be the most public way San Francisco chooses to rebuke the rumors that have tied Brady to the Niners. Reading between the lines, if the 49ers were indeed Brady’s favorite destination, the rumors could have been entirely driven by his camp, while San Francisco never necessarily considered a change at quarterback.

Assuming Simms’ report is accurate after the Titans extended Ryan Tannehill earlier this afternoon, two of Brady’s most appealing options seem to be off the table. At this point, a return to New England seems like the only avenue available to Brady if he wants to be a contender, otherwise, teams like the Chargers, Buccaneers, or Raiders pose the largest threat to sign him away.

Titans Not Interested In Tom Brady

March 15th, 2020 at 11:21am CST by Rory Parks

Scratch the Titans off the list of Tom Brady suitors. Per Dianna Russini of ESPN.com, Tennessee is no longer interested in Brady and is focused on getting a deal done with incumbent Ryan Tannehill (Twitter link). Indeed, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com hears that Tannehill and the Titans are “on the verge” of a multi-year extension (Twitter link).

Earlier this month, there were reports that the Titans were confident they could beat out the Patriots for Brady’s services. Tennessee made a surprising run to the AFC Championship Game thanks in large part to Tannehill’s 2019 renaissance, but his uneven track record and the high price tag that goes hand-in-hand with his performance last season made it a possibility that the Titans could go in another direction.

The Titans were one of a handful of clubs that had a legitimate chance to use a franchise and transition tag this offseason, as Tannehill, RB Derrick Henry, and RT Jack Conklin are all eligible for free agency and would be at or near the top of the market for their respective positions. But now that a new CBA is in place and teams can only use one tag, the need to get at least one of those players under contract immediately is magnified.

After all, if the Titans had put all their eggs in the Brady basket, Tannehill could have gotten away and Tennessee could have been left scrambling for a replacement signal-caller. Henry will almost certainly be tagged, and it seems as if Conklin will hit the open market.

Meanwhile, the new CBA does allow for more flexibility for teams like the Patriots, who can spread out dead money hits for cut players and cap charges for free agent signees over multiple years. As Mike Reiss of ESPN.com notes, that could help New England in a competitive-bidding situation for Brady, and having one major competitor bow out of the race obviously increases the chances that Brady will return to Foxborough.

Buccaneers “All In” On Tom Brady

March 11th, 2020 at 2:36pm CST by Rory Parks

The Buccaneers are “going all in” on legendary signal-caller Tom Brady, per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. Tampa Bay, of course, has been connected to Brady in recent rumors, but it was difficult to determine how serious the team’s interest was. Apparently, it’s very serious.

Bucs head coach Bruce Arians has generally been non-committal towards incumbent passer Jameis Winston, who, like Brady, is eligible for free agency. Stroud says Arians wants to move on from Winston, and GM Jason Licht is willing to defer to his head coach.

Licht and Arians certainly have plenty to offer Brady. The club is among the league leaders in cap space and will have plenty of money to lure Brady to sunny, family-friendly Tampa while giving him a two- or three-year deal. The Bucs also have a dynamic pair of receivers and a talented (if uncertain) tight end, and they plan to add the type of pass-catching back that Brady covets. They also plan to draft an offensive tackle to shore up his protection, and Stroud says they will probably add a receiver from the immensely deep class of collegiate wideouts.

The Bucs will also allow Brady to take charge of the offense, and the fact that Florida has no state income tax will only help the team’s push. The defense also looks like a unit on the rise, so if you squint hard enough, you can see Tampa Bay as a contender with Brady under center.

If Brady chooses to sign elsewhere, Stroud says the Bucs’ fallback options are Teddy Bridgewater and Philip Rivers, in that order. Failing that, a reunion with Winston could still be in play, but that is sounding increasingly like a worst-case scenario for the Bucs.

Latest On Tom Brady: Patriots, 49ers, Chargers, WRs, TEs

March 9th, 2020 at 4:58pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Patriots saw their offense decline considerably last season. The team cycled through wideouts and did not come especially close to replacing Rob Gronkowski. With Tom Brady on the doorstep of free agency, this certainly marks an unusual time for the 11-time reigning AFC East champions.

New England is looking into potential trades for wide receivers and/or tight ends, Albert Breer of SI.com notes, perhaps to help entice Brady to return. A trade-happy franchise during more stable offseasons, the Pats exploring deals should not necessarily surprise. But it could pertain to their quarterback situation.

Brady worked with either Randy Moss or Gronkowski from 2007-2018 and had high-end Gronk replacement Martellus Bennett in the fold in 2016. But the Pats struggled for much of last season, failing to bring in a viable Gronk successor and seeing both Antonio Brown and Josh Gordon in uniform for a short time. Julian Edelman remains under contract, going into his age-34 season, and N’Keal Harry will ideally be available for the first half of the 2020 slate. But Brady has expressed a desire to be surrounded with more talent, per Breer, and the Patriots are now competing with other teams for their 19-year starting quarterback.

The Patriots — who acquired Bennett, Gordon, Phillip Dorsett and Brandin Cooks via trades in recent years — have just one week before the legal tampering period. It is also possible the Pats will use the trade market to upgrade around a Brady replacement. But for now, they are still interested in re-signing the future Hall of Famer.

The Titans and Chargers remain in the mix for Brady, with a few other teams likely looming with some degree of interest. The 49ers rumors that emerged last week were driven more by the Brady camp than the 49ers, Breer adds. While the Raiders may be pivoting to a cheaper quarterback option, Breer notes the Bolts are still in this chase. They have Keenan Allen and Mike Williams under contract and are expected to use their franchise tag on Hunter Henry, thus taking away a potential free agent option for the Patriots.

Latest On Tom Brady: Kraft, Bolts, Titans

March 7th, 2020 at 4:31pm CST by Sam Robinson

We still have more than a week remaining until the legal tampering period opens. That means the Tom Brady rumors still have plenty of news cycles to fill. Here is the latest from the Brady free agency front:

Robert Kraft‘s potential intervention in the Patriots‘ effort to retain Brady has loomed over the franchise’s process, to some degree, and NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran helped set some parameters for the owner’s role here. If the financial gap between Brady and the Pats is considerable, Curran notes Kraft will not intervene and force Bill Belichick to retain the 20-year veteran quarterback. However, if a small gap exists between Brady and Belichick, Curran adds that Kraft will encourage both to bridge it and keep the future Hall of Famer in New England. Brady and Belichick spoke recently, and with nine days remaining until the tampering period opens, the size of the chasm between the two parties should be known by now.
While the Titans seem to have emerged as the most serious threat to the Patriots for Brady, one NFL source does not believe they would cast off Ryan Tannehill after he piloted Tennessee’s 2019 iteration to the AFC title game. “They’re not going to do Ryan Tannehill like that,” a source close to the Titans’ coaching staff told the Boston Globe’s Ben Volin. The Titans have been discussing a deal with Tannehill for months but are now plotting a Brady plan as well, and the team may be quite confident in said plan.
The Chargers have gone quiet on the Brady front, but Volin notes a source indicated the 42-year-old passer’s only realistic option outside of the Patriots would be going to Los Angeles. That is an interesting description of Brady’s market, pointing to some of these suitors not being as high on the legendary quarterback as other reports would indicate. The Bolts’ lack of history regarding these types of moves in free agency, however, leads the Los Angeles Times’ Sam Farmer to question how serious the Chargers’ pursuit of Brady will be.
In case you missed the latest team to move into the Brady rumors, the 49ers are now connected to the Bay Area native.

Titans Confident They Can Beat Out Patriots For Tom Brady?

March 6th, 2020 at 11:46am CST by Sam Robinson

The Titans have moved into another level in one of the most complex free agency processes in recent NFL history. Not only are they one of the central teams navigating the CBA-related uncertainty, they are now juggling multiple quarterback plans.

Two months after beating the Patriots in a wild-card game, the Titans are confident that if it comes down to a head-to-head matchup between they and the Pats, they will be able to lure Tom Brady away from New England, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com said during an appearance on ESPN’s Get Up! (video link).

The Titans are simultaneously negotiating with Ryan Tannehill, Fowler adds. The latter is believed to be seeking a contract in the $30MM-per-year range, per Fowler, who notes a mystery team is in play here as well. Several other teams have been mentioned as Brady suitors — from the Buccaneers to the 49ers, Chargers and Raiders — so it is unclear if there is a true mystery team in the mix or if one of the previously mentioned franchises is competing with the Titans and Patriots.

Tennessee has Tannehill, Derrick Henry and Jack Conklin as free agents. If the new CBA is ratified by March 12 at 11pm CT, teams that have used multiple tags must rescind one. The Titans are hoping to use both their franchise and transition tags, in order to keep all three of their marquee UFAs, but have not used one yet.

If Brady is truly in play for Tennessee, which has a Patriots alumni power structure of Jon Robinson and Mike Vrabel, then it would appear Henry is the better bet to be tagged. But the Titans also run the risk of not tagging Tannehill and losing both he and Brady on the market. The Bucs are also investigating Tannehill. With nothing major coming from the initial Brady suitors — the Chargers and Raiders — this situation may be trending toward the Titans as the top threat to battle the Patriots once the tampering period begins. Tennessee and New England are projected to hold $50MM and $41MM in cap space, respectively.

Brady and Bill Belichick spoke about the quarterback’s contract for the first time this offseason. While that conversation produced conflicting reports, the Pats and their all-time great do not appear much closer to a resolution. The legal tampering period begins March 16. The Pats are still the Las Vegas favorites to sign Brady, but the future first-ballot Hall of Famer is certainly making this interesting.

From a Titans perspective, this marks familiar territory. They finished second in 2012’s Peyton Manning pursuit and saw Brady’s top rival thrive with the Broncos. While Brady is seven years older now than Manning was then, and the Titans feature a better quarterback option in Tannehill compared to Jake Locker in 2012, the organization nevertheless appears to be strongly considering a run at another high-profile starter.

Latest On Tom Brady, Patriots

March 5th, 2020 at 10:08am CST by Sam Robinson

Bill Belichick and Tom Brady finally spoke about the future Hall of Fame quarterback’s contract. While the precise tone of these talks is in dispute, the sides do not appear close to a resolution that will keep the greatest player in Patriots history in New England.

While Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports the Belichick-Brady conversation was “business as usual” (Twitter link), NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran and the Boston Herald’s Karen Guregian report the discussion did not go particularly well.

Brady’s contract expires March 18, and while it should not be ruled out the 42-year-old passer will return for a 21st Patriots season, the latest developments point to a better-than-expected chance he will depart. And the market for the all-time great may now include a fourth of the league.

As many as eight teams are “monitoring Brady’s free agency,” per ESPN.com’s Jeff Darlington, who adds that octet has varying degrees of interest in the Patriots quarterback. Among those, Darlington (via NBC Sports Boston) believes four would sign Brady “right now.” Identifying multiple teams who would do this is not especially difficult. Getting to four is tougher but doable.

Brady has been connected to the Chargers, Raiders, Titans, Colts, Giants, Dolphins, Buccaneers and now 49ers. Three of those teams — the Colts, Dolphins and Giants — are not expected to be real contenders. But the Titans, Bucs and the California teams have not been ruled out.

The Raiders have been not-so-secretly sought a Derek Carr upgrade since Jon Gruden‘s return, and the Chargers’ pursuit of one of the NFL’s most popular players makes sense from that particular organization’s perspective. Bruce Arians said he would consider signing Brady, while the Titans are run by an ex-Patriots exec (Jon Robinson) and ex-Brady teammate (Mike Vrabel). While a 49ers fit would be perhaps the strangest, given their employment of longtime Brady backup Jimmy Garoppolo, Brady is a northern California native.

With free agency still 13 days away, the Brady rumors — and talks of potential replacements for the Patriots — figure to heat up in that span.

Latest On Tom Brady, 49ers

March 4th, 2020 at 1:15pm CST by Zachary Links

The Tom Brady rumor mill has been buzzing with drips of news and gobs of speculation. Some of that theorizing has led some to connect the dots between the Patriots’ legendary passer and the NFC champs. However, at this time, there are no indications that the 49ers are interested in replacing Jimmy Garoppolo with Brady, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).

Fresh off of a Super Bowl appearance, the 49ers are pretty happy with Jimmy G, as Rapoport notes. RapSheet doesn’t feel that the possibility can be ruled out, but at this point, there hasn’t been much to substantiate the talk.

Brady has done an excellent job of keeping things on the hush so far, given the circumstances. That’s one of the many traits that he’s learned from longtime coach Bill Belichick (the Pats, predictably, have also kept things quiet, outside of recent word that they are still in regular contact with the quarterback). At this point, it’s tough to predict how things might play out. The Chargers, Titans, and Raiders all profile as logical destinations for the league’s biggest star. The Colts and Giants, it seems, are not in the mix. Right now, it sounds like we can put the Niners into that second group.

On the surface, it’d be a logical match. If the Niners had Brady under center in February, it’s possible that they would be the champs. For Brady, signing with the Niners would put him in a major market with a ready-to-win defense. The Niners pondered the possibility of luring Brady away from the Patriots two years ago, too – when that didn’t happen, they traded for his backup instead.

Right now, it just doesn’t seem to be in the cards. Based on what we’re hearing (or, the lack of what insiders are hearing, concretely), the 49ers seem comfortable enough with Garoppolo as their quarterback moving forward.

AFC East Rumors: Patriots, Brady, Jets

March 3rd, 2020 at 12:42pm CST by Zachary Links

As speculation continues to swirl around Tom Brady, Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports Boston offers up an assuring and expected update for Patriots fans. No one knows what the quarterback will do when free agency begins, but the two sides are still in communication with each other. They’ve yet to meet, but texts are still being exchanged and head coach Bill Belichick has been among those in contact with the future Hall of Famer.

One source who spoke with Curran dismissed the notion that Brady has mentally divorced himself from the Pats.

“Of course not. There’s an attachment there. You can’t be someplace for 20 years and not have an attachment,” the anonymous source said. “That’s just not who he is.”

Brady will listen closely to the Patriots’ pitch, Curran writes, and he expects them to pinpoint all of the comforts they offer against the backdrop of the unknown that he might find elsewhere.

“Wherever he goes, there won’t be one guy who knows what he wants done and how he wants it done,” one league source said. “Is he going to coach the receivers coach on how to coach the receivers? Or coach the offensive coordinator? There’s a million things.”

While we wait for Brady’s next move, here’s a look at more from the AFC East:

In his latest mock draft, Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller has the Jets taking Georgia offensive tackle Andrew Thomas. Some expect the Jets to target a wide receiver at No. 11 overall, but league sources tell Miller that the Joe Douglas-led front office will not seek a WR in the first round. Thomas, meanwhile, can solve the Jets’ most glaring need and protect Sam Darnold at the left tackle spot.
Patriots special teams ace Justin Bethel had surgery to repair a shoulder issue that had been bothering him, according to ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss. The good news is that Bethel should be good to go for the start of the season. The Pats may need the former Raven on hand since several special teams stalwarts – including Matthew Slater and Nate Ebner – are slated to reach free agency later this month.
Could Josh Norman reunite with his old friends from Carolina? Earlier this week, Bills GM Brandon Beane said that he’s talked with the veteran cornerback.