Tom Brady

Latest On Tom Brady’s Revised Deal

August 10th, 2018 at 4:44pm CST by Sam Robinson

Although the Patriots have Tom Brady at a bargain price, this week’s incentive-laden agreement will make the future Hall of Fame passer remain on the NFL’s elite level to see any pay bumps.

The team agreed to a $5MM incentive package with its superstar quarterback Thursday, which could — if certain statistical thresholds are met — increase his 2018 base salary to $20MM. But he’ll have to stay at or very close to his current performance level to collect the extra cash, and that isn’t exactly common for 41-year-old passers.

Despite Brady’s status as one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, he will need to finish in the top five of the following categories to earn these additional millions — passing yards, touchdown passes, passer rating, yards per attempt and completion percentage — to meet these incentive requirements, Albert Breer of SI.com reports (on Twitter).

Brady will receive $1MM for each incentive met, but Breer adds he can take a shortcut here by leading the Pats to another Super Bowl championship. A Super Bowl title would bring a $2MM bump, but it wouldn’t be $2MM on top of $5MM. The package maxes out at $5MM regardless, but a Super Bowl title would just allow Brady to earn the $5MM by hitting three of the regular-season-based incentives rather than five (Twitter link). He must throw a minimum of 224 passes or play 70 percent of the Patriots’ regular-season snaps to qualify.

This bonus package differs from the one New England gave Rob Gronkowski last season. Gronkowski had to meet certain numbers to kick in the incentives, rather than be among the best in the game. However, the Patriots also allowed for their tight end to max out the bonuses based on a first-team All-Pro appearance, which he did.

Brady indeed finished in the top five of these categories in 2017, but in 2015 — his most recent full season — his work in some of these categories would have left him short of these benchmarks. It’s interesting the Patriots would place the incentives on the level they have, given Brady’s low salary for a franchise quarterback and his contributions to the franchise.

Patriots Sweeten Tom Brady’s Contract

August 9th, 2018 at 11:27am CST by Zachary Links

The Patriots will add up to $5MM in performance-based incentives to Tom Brady’s contract, a source tells ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter), allowing him to make up to $20MM. The move is reminiscent of what the Pats did last year with tight end Rob Gronkowski.

Brady was scheduled to make $15MM in base salary this season, an absolute bargain for the game’s top quarterback. For reference, Brady’s former backup Jimmy Garoppolo will carry a $37MM cap number in 2018. Of course, even with the potential to earn up to $20MM in 2018, Brady is still an absolute bargain for New England.

The Patriots quarterback abstained from voluntary OTAs this offseason and his absence may have been tied to dissatisfaction with his contract. By amending Brady’s deal, it appears the Patriots have mended fences with their star player.

The five-time Super Bowl winner turned 41 this summer, but he hasn’t shown many signs of slowing down. Last year, he completed 66.3% of his passes for a league-leading 4,577 passing yards, 32 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. Meanwhile, in a recent interview with Oprah, Brady indicated that retirement is not on his mind.

“As long as I’m still loving it,” Brady said. “As long as I’m loving the training and the preparation and willing to make the commitment. But it’s also, I think what I alluded to a lot in the docu-series, there’s other things happening in my life, too. I do have kids that I love, and I don’t want to be a dad that’s not there, driving my kids to their games . . . my kids have brought a great perspective in my life. Kids just want the attention. You better be there. And be available to them.”

Brady’s current deal runs through the 2019 season. Prior to Thursday’s agreement, each season called for Brady to carry a cap number of $22MM.

AFC East Notes: Darnold, Patriots, Allen

July 28th, 2018 at 1:59pm CST by Sam Robinson

Two rookies remain unsigned: Sam Darnold and Roquan Smith. The Jets are working on a deal with a quarterback they’ve been thrilled about throughout the offseason, one who was supposed to have a legitimate chance at a Week 1 starting job, but Darnold’s camp absence isn’t doing him any favors. Offset language was thought to be a sticking point here, but NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport notes (video link) that isn’t the case (or isn’t any longer). Instead, the quarterback’s guarantees — and how and when they would void — represent why the former USC standout hasn’t signed. Void issues have also come up in the Bears’ discussions with Smith. CAA represents both Darnold and Smith. The Jets began their first practice this afternoon.

Here’s the latest from the AFC East:

A former AFC East quarterback was not planning to leave during what turned out to be his final offseason in the division. Jimmy Garoppolo was searching for Boston-area real estate last summer, Joon Lee of Bleacher Report notes. Ben Volin of the Boston Globe adds this should help put an end to speculation the Patriots were planning all along to unload their former backup quarterback. Volin writes Bill Belichick was indeed overruled about a plan to keep Garoppolo as the heir apparent — which would have induced complex math because of the current 49ers quarterback’s rookie contract expiring and Tom Brady not yet retired — before an 11th-hour trade to San Francisco.
Brady did not deny that he communicated with Josh McDaniels during the period after the Super Bowl when he backtracked on accepting the Colts’ HC job, the longtime Patriots quarterback said Saturday (via James Palmer of NFL.com, on Twitter). When asked if he spoke with his then-outgoing OC about potentially staying in New England instead, Brady said he “always” talks to McDaniels, who is now back for a seventh season in his second stint as Pats OC.
Julian Edelman addressed his suspension Saturday and said this second straight September off will allow him to get his knee fully ready to go. “It’s disappointing with the penalty and the findings,” Edelman said, via Doug Kyed of NESN.com. “And I’m definitely accountable for that. I have to follow the protocols a little better and make sure this never happens again.” Edelman contested the suspension but saw his appeal fail. The 10th-year slot receiver tore an ACL during the 2017 preseason but is expected to be ready to go upon his now-October debut date.
Josh Allen ‘s been the best Bills quarterback in camp thus far, Joe Buscaglia of WKBW observes. The raw Wyoming-honed talent outshined A.J. McCarron and Nathan Peterman on Saturday, per Buscaglia. Both of the older QBs are believed to be competing for Buffalo’s Week 1 job, with Allen believed to be set to watch as his career begins.

AFC Notes: Ravens, Flacco, Brady, Jets

July 21st, 2018 at 12:01pm CST by Ben Levine

Receiver Breshad Perriman has disappointed since being selected in the first round of the 2015 draft. In three seasons with the Ravens, the 24-year-old has hauled in only 43 receptions for 576 yards and three touchdowns. Considering his lack of production and the team’s depth at his position, Perriman understands that this is a make-or-break year.

“It’s a scary topic,” he told Edward Lee of The Baltimore Sun. “You know what’s on the line; you know that everything is on the line. It’s kind of like a make-or-break year, but at the same time, you can’t put that extra pressure on yourself. So I just really want to go out there and get better every day and control what you can control. Go out there and get better every day and go hard and everything will play out.”

The Ravens signed three free agent receivers in Michael Crabtree, John Brown and Willie Snead, and the also drafted a pair of wideouts in Jaleel Scott and Jordan Lasley. Naturally, Perriman recognizes that he’ll have to compete for a roster spot.

“This whole game is nothing but competition,” he said. “So it’s basically just the same thing. We all embrace it, and we all know that it’s a lot of competition. At the same time, we still want the best for each other and we still encourage each other and motivate each other. When we step out here between these lines, we’re all just trying to compete and make plays.”

Let’s take a look at some more notes from around the AFC…

There’s been plenty of talk about the Ravens decision to select quarterback Lamar Jackson in the first round of this past year’s draft. Agent Joe Linta told Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic that incumbent quarterback Joe Flacco had expected the organization to select a signal-caller, just not in the first round. “We talked about it many times, We knew they were going to draft somebody; I would have thought it may have been a Mason Rudolph situation,” said Linta, referring to the situation between the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger. “But they had a guy they targeted, and they took him. They didn’t do anything wrong…A lot of people in the media have to create a controversy. No one is mad that they picked a QB. [Ravens executives] are not stupid. They want to win more than they want Joe out. You got a 33-year-old guy with two major injuries. It would be bad business for them to not have a good guy behind him.”
Tom Brady may have been absent from team OTAs, but it sounds like he’s going to be early for Patriots training camp. As Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com points out, Brady commented on a Patriots Instagram post stating that he’ll be showing up to training camp four days early. Brady has previously said he missed non-mandatory minicamp due to “personal reasons,” and he made an appearance at Patriots practice in early June.
Jets wideout Robby Anderson is set to be a restricted free agent next offseason, and Brian Costello of the New York Post says it’d be a shock if the team didn’t bring him back. However, the writer notes that the embattled 25-year-old could receive a lucrative offer from another team if he has a big 2018 season. Legal issues aside, the former undrafted free agent has looked like a starting receiver during his two years with the Jets, including a 2017 campaign where he hauled in 63 receptions for 941 yards and seven touchdowns.

East Notes: Patriots, Brady, Giants, Cowboys

June 20th, 2018 at 3:35pm CST by Zachary Links

Tom Brady recently told Oprah that he’ll retire sooner rather than later, but he may still be on course for his original plan. In a reply to a post on Instagram regarding Brady’s long-term plans, the Patriots quarterback replied “cuarenta y cinco” – Spanish for 45.

Brady turns 41 on Aug. 3, so he still has a ways to go before hitting that mark. Still, after another masterful season, it’s hard to doubt him.

Here’s more from the East divisions:

New Cowboys assistant Kris Richard is drawing rave reviews in Dallas and he could become one of the league’s hottest head coaching candidates next year. “No question,” defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli said when asked if the 38-year-old could coach his own team in 2019 (via Charean Williams of PFT). “He’ll be like a Mike Tomlin, Lovie Smith, guys I’ve been around who became head coaches. He’s got the right stuff.”
Giants executive Kevin Abrams, a member of the organization since 1999 and the assistant GM for the last 16 years, has been promoted to the team’s vice president of football operations. Abrams was considered as an internal candidate for GM before the hiring of Dave Gettleman.
Free agent wide receiver Eric Decker feels that he would be a good fit for the Patriots.

AFC Notes: Brady, Jets, McGuire, Browns

June 16th, 2018 at 9:03am CST by Ben Levine

Tom Brady‘s career will soon be coming to an end, but the future Hall of Famer still wasn’t willing to give a definitive timeline in an interview with Oprah Winfrey. The Patriots quarterback acknowledged that retirement would be coming “sooner, rather than later,” but he also noted that he’ll still play if he has the passion and drive.

“As long as I’m still loving it,” Brady said (via Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com). “As long as I’m loving the training and the preparation and willing to make the commitment. But it’s also, I think what I alluded to a lot in the docu-series, there’s other things happening in my life, too. I do have kids that I love, and I don’t want to be a dad that’s not there, driving my kids to their games . . . my kids have brought a great perspective in my life. Kids just want the attention. You better be there. And be available to them.”

The five-time Super Bowl winner will be turning 41 next month, but he hasn’t shown many signs of slowing down. He completed 66.3-percent of his passes for a league-leading 4,577 passing yards, 32 touchdowns, and eight interceptions.

Let’s take a look at some more notes from around the AFC…

The Jets have a number of relatively popular running backs on their roster, including Isaiah Crowell, Bilal Powell, and Thomas Rawls. However, running backs coach Stump Mitchell decided to gush about 2017 sixth-round pick Elijah McGuire, who is currently buried on the depth chart. “He has the skill set to be a LaDainian Tomlinson, if he was given that opportunity,” Mitchell told Zach Braziller of the New York Post. “That’s not what presents itself to him at this point in time. The skill set, he can do it all. He can catch, he can run as a running back and he can run routes as a receiver. He just happens to be here, and I’m glad we got him.”
Once Jets quarterback Sam Darnold signs his rookie contract, the Jets will have around $16MM in cap space. ESPN’s Rich Cimini doesn’t believe the front office will end up using any of that money for extensions, but he notes that it could provide general manager Mike Maccagnan will the ability to pull off a pricey preseason trade. Cimini also writes that the Jets could simply roll their open cap room into next season, which will add to their projected league-leading $88MM in space.
During his tenure as Steelers offensive coordinator, Todd Haley worked with quarterbacks like Ben Roethlisberger, Byron Leftwich and Michael Vick. However, the current Browns offensive coordinator say he may be working with the best grouping of signal-callers throughout his career. “This is probably one of the best – if not the best – quarterbacks rooms, in general, that I’ve had,” Haley told Patrick Maks of ClevelandBrowns.com. “The group, in general, is what I’m excited about. I think that it’s an intelligent, intelligent group, with ability to throw the football and make plays with their legs, some of them. When you have that, I think that good things happen. Competition is created in the room, even though they’re working hard together to help each other and get better as a group.” The Browns are currently rostering a trio of quarterbacks in Tyrod Taylor, Baker Mayfield, and Drew Stanton.

Latest On Brady, Gronkowski

June 11th, 2018 at 12:43pm CST by Zachary Links

Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski reported to the Patriots last week, but they won’t be around for the team’s remaining practices in the month of June. The two stars are not slated to take part in the final few OTAs this week, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. With that, Brady and Gronk are not expected to report to the club until July when training camp gets underway.

The arrival of the two players last week was viewed as a positive sign for their relationships with the team and their contractual situations. To date, neither player has received a new deal, and it’s still not clear whether that is part of Brady’s agenda. A revised pact seems likely for the tight end, though nothing is imminent on that front.

For all of the rumors of discord in New England, there is every reason to believe that both players will be in uniform for the team in September. A new round of trade speculation circled around Gronkowski last week, but there’s no basis for such talk.

Brady, predictably, has said very little about reports of a rift between him and coach Bill Belichick.

AFC Notes: Brady, Gates, Peterson, Titans

June 9th, 2018 at 5:04pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

In a recent opinion piece, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe makes the case that Tom Brady didn’t hold up his end of the bargain in trying to quell concerns about drama within the Patriots organization. Volin argues that coach Bill Belichick and Rob Gronkowski both did their best to assure the media and the public that all was good in New England, but that Brady raised more questions than he answered during his brief media availability.

Volin writes that the Patriots’ goal when Gronkowski and Brady finally returned to the team was to “show a united front, and squash all of the drama”, but that Brady failed to do so. According to Volin, Belichick did a “superb job” and Gronkowski did a “great job of explaining himself too”, but that Brady seemed like “he wants the drama to linger, to let it be known that he’s still upset with Belichick and the organization.”

Whatever is going on with the Patriots, it seems to be a saga with no end in sight. The issues likely won’t be put to rest for good until the team take the field in 2018 and shows they can still play at a championship level even with all the off-field distractions.

Here’s more from around the AFC:

Antonio Gates isn’t a realistic candidate to be signed by the Bills, according to Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News. Despite the Bills being a bit thin at tight end behind Charles Clay, Skurski thinks the Bills would rather develop the young tight ends on their roster.
Adrian Peterson would like to play for the Texans, he told Mark Berman of Fox 26 (Twitter link). Peterson said “I would definitely love to be here in Houston. I think I can help them out tremendously..I still got it.” Peterson has repeatedly expressed his desire to continue playing, but hasn’t drawn much interest.
Rookie tight end Ethan Wolf is a “long shot” to make the Titans roster, according to Jim Wyatt of Titansonline.com. Wyatt thinks he’ll end up on the outside looking in due to the Titans’ full tight end depth-chart, but that he’s a potential practice squad candidate.

Latest On Patriots QB Tom Brady

June 7th, 2018 at 1:28pm CST by Zachary Links

On Thursday, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady spoke to the press about his relationship with the team and his absence from OTAs. Though he was reluctant to delve deep into his absence from voluntary OTAs, Brady did say that his relationship with the club continues to be in a good place (video link via Ben Volin of The Boston Globe).

Brady reiterated that he was away from the club for “personal reasons.” When asked if those personal reasons include friction with coach Bill Belichick, Brady claimed there are no issues on that front, despite all of the rumors to the contrary.

“Not at all,” Brady said. “[Our relationship] is great, we’ve always had a great relationship. I’ve been here for a long time and I love this team, I love this organization, and I love playing quarterback for him. I loved it last year and I’m having a lot of fun now, so that’s obviously what’s most important to me.”

Meanwhile, Brady was non-committal when asked whether he’ll take part in the Patriots’ next set of OTAs. It’s safe to assume that Brady will be on hand for mandatory minicamp later this summer, though he could be putting pressure on the team to revise his contract between now and then.

Last year, Brady led the league with 4,577 passing yards and completed 66.3% of his throws. The Pats went 13-3 in the regular season under Brady’s command and defeated a tough Jaguars team in the AFC title game before falling short against the Eagles in the Super Bowl.

Tom Brady, Gronk Report To Patriots

June 5th, 2018 at 12:34pm CST by Zachary Links

As expected, Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski were on hand for the Patriots’ Tuesday morning practices. The two stars previously stayed away from voluntary offseason team activities, but it appears that all parties are now on the same page.

It is widely believed that Gronkowski was abstaining from OTAs in order to push the Patriots for a new contract. No new deal has been reached yet, but that’s likely forthcoming. Gronk, who is signed through the 2019 campaign, is scheduled to earn a base salary of $8MM in 2018, but New England has been working on “tweaking” his deal. The Patriots are expected to add some sort of incentive package to Gronkowski’s pact, as they did last year.

The circumstances behind Brady’s absence are not quite as clear. It has been speculated that the quarterback is angling for a new deal and/or is at odds with head coach coach Bill Belichick. Brady has not confirmed such talk and owner Robert Kraft did his best to sweep those rumors under the rug. Belichick, predictably, has been mum on the subject.

Last year, Brady led the NFL in passing yards en route to his third MVP trophy. While the rumors of discord will continue to swirl in New England, Brady will look to capture his sixth Super Bowl trophy this season.

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