Brady, Rivers present free agency blueprint
Column: Looking at Brady, Rivers wearing different uniforms will be strange next season
Tom Brady. Tampa Bay. What a surprise. Bucs’ head coach Bruce Arians has a terrific offensive mind.
Brady throwing to Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and O.J. Howard should be something else — assuming he still has something left in the tank.
Jameis Winston threw for more than 5,000 yards and 30 touchdowns during 2019 in Arians’ offense, which once made Carson Palmer almost look great in Arizona. Can you imagine what he will do with Tom Brady? Brady will presumably take much better care of the ball than Winston, who was intercepted 30 times.
It’s just going to look weird seeing Brady in a different uniform — especially the Bucs (can you imagine him those burnt orange throwbacks?) Same for Philip Rivers moving from the Chargers to the Colts.
There was a time, long ago, when such stories of long-time quarterbacks with one team moving on at the end of their careers was a signal for pending disap
pointment.
The most famous involved Johnny Unitas. He played just five games with the Chargers, but was beaten to smithereens at age 40. Joe Namath’s stint with the Rams was another example. Both occurred during the 1970s. It stopped the trend for a long time.
Yet, it’s a different era. Quarterbacks are better at training. There are rules now which protect QBs from repeatedly taking brutal hits.
Joe Montana had two excellent seasons with Kansas City after recovering from a severe elbow injury while in his late 30s.
Brett Favre left the Packers, had a rough season with the Jets and had an excellent year with the Vikings before the wheels came off for good in his early 40s.
Peyton Manning was a huge difference maker with the Broncos, but when they actually won the Super Bowl it was much more because of a superior defense.
Brady is in uncharted territory. He will be 43. The Patriots were 12-4 last season, but all his key numbers dropped, especially yards per attempt — just 6.6. Brady simply didn’t have it in the playoffs during a stunning home loss to the Titans.
It might have been the player personnel surrounding him, but there were a few more wounded ducks thrown by Brady, which was somewhat a reminder of Manning at the end of the road.
Rivers is gutty, tough, likable and has deserved a better fate during his career than not appearing in the Super Bowl. He won’t be 39 until December, so time is more on his side than Brady.
Unlike Brady, Rivers doesn’t have big-time receivers with the Colts, at least to this point. This a deep draft for receivers, and perhaps Indianapolis can add a few, though. A benefit: Like Arians, Bills’ head coach Frank Reich has an excellent offensive mind.
The Colts don’t have much draft capital after swapping the 13th overall pick in the draft to San Francisco for defensive tackle DeForest Buckner this week.
It’s Rivers or bust.
There is no bigger name in football — perhaps ever — than Tom Brady. You can say he is “arguably” the greatest player of all-time, but the argument on his behalf is overwhelming.
Philip Rivers played 16 seasons with the Chargers, the last 14 as full-time starter.
Their progress this season will set a tone in the future.
For how long to hold on to a QB. When to unload one.
When to sign one, too.