Let Me Try And Calm Some Nerves With My Take On Brady Watch

In my personal opinion, I don’t think anyone knows where Tom Brady is playing next year. I do not think that he himself has a decision made. But this is sports and this is the world of breaking news and getting scoops we live in. Saying “I’m not sure right now” is a foreign concept to most national media. In the year 2020, you have to have a take, and you have to be getting progress on a story as big as this, even if there is nothing to be made. This is what leads to both ends of the spectrum being reported. You have guys saying “He is staying and that is the feeling around the league is ...” and then the polar opposite end saying “I would be surprised if he was to come back”. When every report starts conflicting itself, it makes it hard to believe anything. It makes me draw the conclusion that no one knows what is truly going on. Throughout all of this, the idea that no one knows has seemed the most logical.

I did a timeline of all the reports on Marcus Smart’s free agency from the summer of 2018 and you can see all the conflicting reporting that was done, saying everything on both sides of the spectrum. I think it just perfectly lays out what can happen in free agency. If you take every report to heart, then you are going to work yourself up and waste your time running tweets through your brain that might mean absolutely nothing that are just blowing smoke to fill a quota. That is what happens in free agency. If it can happen to a sixth man guard in that scale then think about how it will be when we are talking about a guy who is the most storied athlete in a league that took a day away from the church.

At this point anyone who has had a cup of coffee with Brady is a “source”. If you’re close to Brady you are going to be deemed to be part of the “Brady camp” for any guess you have. That is how thirsty everyone is for anything that gets them one step closer to cracking the great mystery. I might be in the minority here, but the only thing that matters to me in free agency is contractual negotiations. Tracking flights, looking at instagram likes, housing markets, Hulu commercials, none of that matters. If one thing's for certain it's this. Brady’s bombshell free agency decision isn’t going to be revealed by something like a North Carolina v. Syracuse game with Edelman and Jimmy Fallon. You really think that Brady, while on camera, is going to let us know he isn’t coming back because Jules is pulling his chain saying he is? Just Brady being in public now is a story toward what he may or may not do now within the next month. The combine which usually controls most stories in the later part of February really had no major stories outside Henry Ruggs 40 and the offensive lineman’s ridiculous eating habits. So yeah, naturally the six time Super Bowl champ’s free agency is going to be at the forefront of all NFL talk as the days reach closer and closer to March 18th. But think about it logically, there can’t be a Brady story every day, even though we all see one.

So what do I think Brady is going to do? I don’t know. I really have no idea and I can admit that. I think New England gives him far and away the best chance to win but if he wants to go cash in after being the best player to ever lace ‘em up, then he has every right to. But for the sake of his legacy and my own mental state, I would prefer him to stay. New England isn’t better off without him, and I don’t think he is better off without New England. I think maybe the only thing that is for certain in all this is Brady will listen to other offers like most every single free agent does. I just don’t think anyone truly knows what is going on inside Brady’s head other than himself.

Brady likes to be in the headlines, as any mega star athlete does. He will take any opportunity to troll and just have fun with all of us in his first free agency ever. Things such as wearing all black on his instagram story, being apart of a facetime call with Mike Vrabel, commenting on Instagram posts. This isn’t new to him. He has been under the most as magnified of a microscope you can be his whole career. He knows what will and will not be noticed. 99.9% of things about Brady we hear is stuff he is well aware will hit our news feeds.

I hope he stays. I really do. This is the most important free agent this team has ever had. Even at 42 years old Brady is a major key to where this dynasty will go. But right now we just have to wait and see. March 18th is coming up fast.