ESPN’s Adam Schefter set off quite the frenzy on Monday night when he suggested New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady could be setting himself up to leave the team after the 2019 season.
If ESPN’s Adam Schefter is right and quarterback Tom Brady is indeed getting ready to leave the New England Patriots in 2020, could the Tennessee Titans nab the future Hall of Famer to be their next quarterback?
Schefter brought up the idea prior to the Monday Night Football contest on ESPN between the Patriots and New York Jets.
The ESPN insider pointed to Brady and his trainer both putting their houses up for sale, and the fact that the Pats QB has his contract setup to be voided after the 2019 campaign as his reasoning for making such a statement (you can view the video of Schefter making his case here).
Schefter even doubled down on his comments from Monday night on the “The Greg Hill Show” on WEEI radio in Boston, per Bill Speros of the Boston Herald.
"Schefter carried his argument to WEEI on Tuesday morning, sparring with former Patriot Jermaine Wiggins on “The Greg Hill Show.”“I don’t really buy the house thing,” Wiggins said.“Well, you should,” Schefter shot back."
It’s certainly an interesting conversation to have, as Brady has spent his entire career in New England, and if he decided to leave for any other reason other than retirement, it would send shock waves across the NFL.
While Schefter is as connected as anyone in the football world and his word should be taken seriously, I just can’t imagine Brady leaving the Pats for any other reason than to retire. However, perhaps the Pats want to move on from him and look to the future after 2019, as head coach Bill Belichick reportedly wanted to a few years back with Jimmy Garoppolo.
Should Brady hit free agency in 2020, the Titans could look to bring him in.
Perhaps the strongest link Brady would have to the Titans is head coach Mike Vrabel. The pair were teammates back in New England and showed their “bromance” was still very strong when the Titans and Patriots took part in joint practices prior to the start of the season.
https://twitter.com/jwyattsports/status/1162017541298020352
And, now that the Marcus Mariota experiment has all but failed and the Ryan Tannehill experiment has begun, there’s a good chance the Titans will be in the market for a quarterback next offseason if the former No. 8 overall pick doesn’t pan out.
Even if he does, Tennessee would be hard-pressed to turn down the potential to have Brady as their next quarterback instead of Tannehill.
Granted, Brady isn’t the player he once was at the age of 42 (he’ll be 43 on August 3rd, 2020), but signing him would bring instant credibility to the position for the Titans and Super Bowl or bust buzz with a guy behind center that has six rings.
Wherever Brady decides to go, it’ll certainly be to a team that is ready to compete for a championship immediately.
Sure, this Titans team has faltered quite a bit this season, however Tennessee does have a championship-caliber defense and a slew of weapons on offense that Brady would enjoy throwing to.
All that’s left is to find a quarterback who can give the team some consistency, and of course the Titans will have to clean up their act on the offensive line one way or the other.
If Tom Brady hits the open market next year, the Titans will undoubtedly be linked to him if for no other reason than his relationship with Vrabel, and the veteran QB would be a perfect stop gap should the Titans decide to look for their long-term solution at quarterback in the 2020 NFL Draft.