Brady hints at future
Free-agent quarterback ‘open-minded’ about where he’ll play in 2020.
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his 20year career on March 18, was asked Sunday whether he views it as a realistic possibility that he could play for another team.
“I’m open-minded about the process,” he said in his weekly interview with Westwood One radio, when also asked whether he’d be willing to play elsewhere. “At the same time, I love playing football and I want to continue to play and do a great job. I’m looking forward to what’s ahead.”
On Saturday night, Brady was in Las Vegas for UFC 246, where he crossed paths with Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis.
Photos of them together generated a predictable buzz on social media.
It is uncommon for a player of Brady’s stature to reach free agency. As part of the revised contract he agreed to with the Patriots in August, the team can’t as- sign him the franchise tag, which gives Brady, 42, leverage to dictate his plans.
If he returns to the Patriots for a 21st season in 2020, he would tie former Detroit Lions kicker Jason Hanson for the longest tenure with a team in NFL history.
Jaguars
Jacksonville will inter- view Jay Gruden for its of- fensive coordinator vacancy. This comes on the heels of interviews with other former coaches Ben McAdoo and Scott Linehan. Gruden was fired by the Redskins in October after fiveplus years as their head coach. He made it clear a few weeks back he was looking to get back in the NFL, ideally as a head coach. With those jobs off the board, Gruden could return to his previous role. He was the Bengals offensive coordinator from 2011-13.
Chargers
Philip Rivers has moved “permanently” from San Diego to Florida to be closer to his family, the free-agent quarterback said. “What this means football-wise is to be determined but it was time for us to move back closer to home,” Rivers said. While his family settles in in the South, Rivers is a free agent this offseason, and it appears that he and the Los
Angeles Chargers are going their own directions. Rivers will be one of the top quarterbacks in a market that also could include Brady, Drew Brees, Ryan Tannehill, Teddy Bridgewater, Jameis Winston and Marcus Mari- ota, among others.
Elsewhere
Players Coalition co- founder Anquan Boldin shared a poignant personal tragedy in the signature public service spot of the NFL’s Inspire Change platform during Sunday’s conference championship games. In the spot that will run through Super Bowl, Boldin shared his inspiration to launch social justice work: the 2015 shooting death of his cousin Corey Jones, 31, at the hands of a plainclothes police officer after his car had broken down on Interstate 95 in Florida. A jury in West Palm Beach last year found ex-police officer Nouman Raja guilty of armed manslaughter and attempted first-degree murder in the death of Jones.
“There are just some things that are bigger than football and I felt like starting the Players Coalition and affecting change in this country was one of those things,” Boldin said.