Exec: Tom Brady Brady Leaving Patriots “All But a Done Deal”

Is Tom Brady moving toward playing for a new team in 2020?

Most believe the six-time Super Bowl champion will re-sign with New England before officially hitting free agency, but according to USA Today’s Mike Jones, there are some executives (or at least one) who believes Brady’s exodus from the Patriots is “all but a done deal.”

For the next few weeks, though, it sounds like Brady is going to run around and collect unofficial offers from teams. Presumably that is why Brady’s representation has been working so hard to share information among national media – in the case of the Raiders, even sharing dollar amounts.

Whether those details are fabricated for the sake of leverage is another discussion.

“Brady will be able to sort through his offers to determine which ones are appealing and then bring them back to Bill Belichick to negotiate his price to remain in New England,” The Athletic’s Jeff Howe reported last week. “For the sake of speculation, Brady probably won’t force the Patriots to be the highest bidder, but he should want a competitive, fair-market price.”

“That’s why the first couple weeks of March will be the most crucial stretch of the Patriots’ negotiating window,” Howe continued. “Brady can essentially say, “Look, I’ve got this acceptable proposal from Team X. If you can’t hit (insert contract terms here), I’ll leave… Belichick will run the point on those negotiations from the Patriots’ side, but owner Robert Kraft will have a valuable role.”

There have been rumors that Belichick and Brady have endured a rocky relationship in recent years and it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if both coach and player want to see if they can win a championship apart from each other.

For Brady, is Las Vegas his best option to win a Super Bowl outside of New England?

Possibly.

For the Raiders, is their best option at quarterback really a 43 year-old coming off his worst season (statistically at least) in 14 years?

Surely not.

twitter: @raidersbeat