He’s no different than the rest
Brady’s Pats days numbered
New England’s version of March Madness has left the 2017 NFL season irrelevant west of I-495.
The Patriots all but clinched consecutive Super Bowls in consecutive months with news of Dont’a Hightower’s long-term deal yesterday.
Beware the Ides of March as they come complete with very long knives if you’re either Julius Caesar or Roger Goodell. Anyone who thought the Patriots had achieved their “revenge” upon Goodell and the NFL Establishment is sadly mistaken.
What happened last season was simply the warmup act. Before Goodell knew what hit him and the Falcons in Houston, the Patriots had copyrighted “Blitz for Six.”
There seems to be only one giant question left unanswered around One Patriot Place — and it’s the same question asked since 2009: How is it going to end with Tom Brady?
The short answer: Not pretty. Brady is signed through 2019, but his cap hit escalates to $22 million in 2018 for two years.
Things are fluid elsewhere. Malcolm Butler is telling Patriots State Run Media that he wants to be a Patriot for life, and, has his heart set on playing in New Orleans. The bold predictions of Adam Schefter not withstanding, the Jimmy Garoppolo-to-the-Browns saga remains as persistent as Rachel Maddow’s obsession with President Trump’s tax returns.
Neither diversion will affect the Super Bowl LII Express. Butler will bring in a substantial haul from New Orleans that leaves Belichick with 138 ways to shaft the rest of the NFL on draft day. Garoppolo will be Brady’s backup/heir in waiting because that’s what Belichick wants.
Brady turns 40 in August. The fairy tale has Brady sticking around until little Benjamin graduates from Michigan in 2033 (Benji would be a perfect No. 12A). The real world teaches us Brady’s mortality looms larger and moves closer with each passing day. As does his final day in a Patriots uniform.
The Patriots lied to Butler when they told him they would never pay a cornerback not named Darrelle Revis more than $10 million a year and then did just that with Stephon Gilmore. “Surprise,” said no one. Belichick gives not a damn about what you’ve done in the past. Gilmore was a free agent. Butler wasn’t. Remember when Tommy got clipped in “Goodfellas?” Billy Bats was a made man and Tommy wasn’t.
The citizens of Patriots Nation hope and pray Brady will be the ultimate exception to the “Patriot Way.”
“Pay him $25 million a year when he’s 42 because he’s Tom Brady, dammit, and he’s won five (or six or seven) Super Bowls,” they scream in their dreams.
The Patriots could take the $22 million cap hit on Brady and franchise Jimmy G. for about $25 million in 2018 and 2019. They may do that once; they certainly won’t do it twice. Garoppolo won’t be taking any sweetheart deals to stay in New England. He’s not married to a supermodel worth $360 million.
Disposing of Brady before or after the 2018 season will become Belichick’s ultimate example of “This is how you build a winner.”
Even if that includes watching the greatest player of all time end his career with the Los Angeles Rams.