A little help maybe?
Brady contract talks in need of kickstart
FOXBORO — When the subject of his contract came up, Tom Brady looked for a little help and support from the media.
Might the mob of journalists who surrounded him yesterday during his first gab session of training camp conduct some kind of fan poll to see if he was worthy of an extension, and then let his ultimate boss know the results?
“I don’t know (if I deserve an extension). That’s up for talk show debate. What do you guys think? Should we take a poll?,” Brady said, chuckling at the thought. “Talk to Mr. Kraft, come on!”
Translation: Brady opted for a little humor to essentially dodge several questions about not having a new deal in place.
The quarterback, who is approaching the final year of
his contract, seemed a little more confident of a resolution the last time he met with the media during minicamp in June.
At that point, he appeared optimistic the situation would resolve, and didn’t seem too concerned about entering his walk year.
“I don’t think about it too much,” Brady said last month with respect to his contract situation. “I think those things work themselves out.”
This time around, Brady seemed to be hoping and wishing for something to happen, as opposed to actually believing it. The sides have talked and had discussions, but nothing appears imminent on a new deal for the six-time Super Bowlwinning quarterback.
The difficulty has been in finding that happy medium. Bill Belichick doesn’t want to pay top dollar for a 42year-old quarterback over an extended period of time. It’s understandable, and once Hoodie draws a line in the sand, it’s hard to make him budge.
Brady has been the good soldier and taken less money over the years to help Belichick pay and keep other players. He’s set the example up top and everyone else has been expected to follow suit. It’s been a winning formula.
This is likely Brady’s final contract, unless he goes year to-year. He wants to be a Patriot, and finish his career in New England. That’s no secret. Making it happen just might play out a little differently than at first believed unless Kraft steps in.
“I’ve had such a great experience over a lot of years. I appreciate this team, and the opportunity it gave me in 2000,” Brady said, when first approached about all the contract talk swirling around. “I play for a great coach, in Coach (Bill) Belichick. Josh (McDaniels) and I have a great working relationship, I love Mr. Kraft and his family. We’ve just had incredible success. Hopefully, we keep it going.”
Asked about the possibility of going year-to-year, and if he was comfortable with that, Brady went back to his bag of humor.
“Well, we’re all day-to-day, if you think about it,” he said with a smile, essentially dodging the question. “None of us are promised anything. I’m trying to do the best I can today, and just let those things sort themselves out.”
On the field, the offense is clearly behind the defense. Brady doesn’t have as many weapons he can count on as in years past. Wednesday’s practice was certainly not pretty by offensive standards. Rookie first round pick N’Keal Harry, who is carrying huge expectations, dropped four passes. Second-year slot man Braxton Berrios, meanwhile, hasn’t impressed much at all.
“We’ve got a very good defense this year. Those guys are challenging us on every day. It’s hard to complete passes on our secondary,” said Brady. “That’s just the reality. So, it’s actually great work for our offense to see how we measure up against a very good defense. Days like today are frustrating for us and we’ve got to learn from the corrections and try to come out and have a better day tomorrow.”
A lesser quarterback would be even more challenged. There’s no reason to think Brady won’t make it work. He did last season when we were saying the same things about the offense.
But you can put that one up for talk show debate, too. And, forward the results to Robert Kraft.