Bury the hatchet, boys
Big Three must come to understanding
Tom Brady has yet to join his teammates for the Patriots voluntary offseason workouts that started at the beginning of the week.
His status for joining the team, or even playing the 2018 season, according to one report, remains a mystery.
Time for an intervention. Enough speculation and whispers through the media. Enough with having rumors running rampant about what might be real, and what’s utter nonsense.
Team owner Robert Kraft needs to step in with his quarterback and head coach Bill Belichick, get these people in the same room, and get everyone back on the same page.
We thought this situation would be resolved a long time ago, and the Big Three in the Patriots organization would show a united front at this point. Kraft said he planned on meeting with Belichick and Brady after the Super Bowl. At the league meetings in Orlando last month, he indicated that meeting took place.
But judging by the disconnect that remains, nothing’s been solved.
Well, it’s time to try again, because what’s playing out now isn’t what’s best for the Pats, who head into next week’s draft potentially with an even more uncertain situation at quarterback, even if the smart bet is on Brady playing this season.
It’s also not the best look for Brady, who has been talking about playing until he’s 45. If he’s cutting his time short by even by a few years, that would be putting the team in a bind given they traded away Jimmy Garoppolo.
But there’s still time to clean up the mess. Because Kraft claimed that’s what he had in mind when we spoke the week of the Super Bowl.
“Continuity is hard. You go through some tough times,” Kraft told the Herald.
At the time, there was reported friction among Belichick, Brady and Kraft, who were in their 18th year of their partnership, which is remarkable.
Of course, there are egos involved and the strong wills of Brady and Belichick.
Kraft said his job was to “keep it together.”
Told there would come a day when Belichick moved on, and Brady called it a career, Kraft quickly interjected: “Hopefully, that’s a ways off.”
In that light, the Patriots have no Plan B. They’ve invested in Brady for the near future. They’ll draft a quarterback next week, but Brady’s the man. And Kraft knows it.
“I like who we have in place right now. I’m going to try my best to keep it going as long as I can,” Kraft said, when asked then about the quarterback plan.
That’s why he has to jump in once again, and get the boys back together. Because right now, Brady’s it, and there continues to be a problem.
It looks more like a rock fight right now, with the sides sending not-to-subtle messages back and forth.
Asked about that meeting recently, Kraft indicated that it did take place, but also said there were meetings all the time.
“We’re not a big bureaucratic organization. We’re a private organization,” he said. “We answer to the fans the best we can. We met. I meet individually with each of them. The thing that I don’t know if it’s completely understood that Bill and Tom communicate and meet a lot and spend a lot of time communicating . . . This is not an engineering firm where everything is A, B, C, D.
“I think that Bill’s structure is pretty good most of the time and has worked pretty well.”
Only, it’s not working now. Players who left in free agency have groused about Belichick and his ways. That’s never happened to the degree it’s happening now. Rob Gronkowski has also been a no-show to the workouts. He’s also contemplating his future.
The Patriots have won five championships with the Brady-Belichick tandem, but there are issues that are still keeping Brady at a distance.
His body coach Alex Guerrero has become a source of controversy within the Patriots organization. Last year, Belichick drew a line in the sand, taking away many of Guerrero’s team privileges in December. Brady can still see Guerrero at Gillette Stadium while others, including Gronkowski, have to head to TB12 Sports Therapy Center at Patriot Place to get treatment.
Can this be fixed? Belichick doesn’t seem like the type to blink. So how long will Brady stay away? Is this a short-term issue, or something longer than that?
Ahead of Super Bowl LII, Brady said in a Westwood One radio interview he planned to continue playing in 2018, regardless of the outcome of the game.
“You’re going to see me playing football next year,” he said. “I don’t envision not playing.’’
On Tuesday, special teams captain Matthew Slater talked about what the players are doing right this first week of the offseason program.
“We’re all trying to get on the same page, said Slater, “whether you’ve been here 11 years or you’ve been in the building for two days.”
They’re trying to do it without their leader, and most important guy. That’s why Kraft needs to step in, get Brady and Belichick in the same room, and resolve the problem.
Because all of this drama now, this soap opera that’s playing out, isn’t the stuff of championship teams. It’s a recipe for losers.