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Hall of Fame-bound New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will turn 42-years-old on August 3rd. The 2019 NFL season will be Brady’s 20th season in the league. He’s been sacked a whopping 473 times during the regular season (7th all time) and another 66 times in the playoffs. How much longer can he continue to perform at the ridiculously high levels he’s been playing at since returning from a devastating knee injury in 2008?
Brett Favre, the NFL record-holder for most times being sacked in the regular season at 525, made it to year 20, but his QB rating in that 20th year fell from a career-high of 107.2 in 2009 to a career-low of 69.9 in 2010. In 2011, he retired.
It was a sudden and incredibly rapid drop-off. Is Tom Brady destined for a similar fate? That’s a question many in and around New England have been, rightfully, asking themselves for the past few years, and one of them is reportedly named Bill Belichick.
Brady is looking to sign a new deal with the Patriots so he can finish his career with the team he’s played for his entire career. He currently is only signed to the team through the 2019 season.
A report by NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero stated that there’s no new deal “on the horizon” but the two sides are “talking.”
Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports Boston reports…
Belichick has encountered a lot in his NFL career, but Brady has become an unsolvable riddle. Belichick planned as if he was going to follow the Bernie Kosar/Drew Bledsoe route with Brady when he drafted Garoppolo. Brady beat that challenge back and sealed his own legacy and Belichick’s in doing so.
Now Brady’s 42, playing like he’s 32 and Belichick still seems to be waiting for some kind of epiphany before he tethers himself to a player Belichick is worried might start playing his age.
Robert Kraft has given every assurance that Brady is here for the duration. Brady wants the same. It’s only as complicated as Belichick decides to make it.
And — with training camp about to start — it’s way more complicated than it has to be.
So, is Belichick just biding his time, hoping Brady will play in 2019 without a new contract in place for 2020 so he can see what TB12’s worth will be after this season?
And if Brady doesn’t sign a new deal before the 2019 NFL season kicks off, is there a chance he pulls the unthinkable, like Joe Montana did with the 49ers, and signs to play for another team in his twilight years?