As the 2020 NFL year and free agency period inch closer, there have been plenty of rumors and speculation regarding Tom Brady’s future with the New England Patriots.
The 42-year-old is set to become a free agent for the first time in his illustrious career on March 18 at 1:00 p.m. PT when his contract with the Patriots officially expires.
New England previously agreed to let the future Hall of Famer test the open market, and a handful of teams are already lining up for an opportunity to court him.
The Las Vegas Raiders are believed to have interest in signing Brady and reportedly could offer him a two-year, $60 million contract at the start of the new league year.
Other teams rumored to have some level of interest are the Tennessee Titans and Los Angeles Chargers. While Brady figures to command a ton of interest as a free agent, some are skeptical he will ultimately leave the only NFL organization he has ever known.
With no progress being made on a potential extension with the Patriots, however, there is a growing belief that Brady will sign with a different team next month, via ESPN:
Tom Brady is currently operating under the belief that he will enter free agency to play somewhere other than New England next season, a sentiment the quarterback has shared with others, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Darlington.
While Brady has his eyes very clearly on free agency, there is still a belief in his circles that the Patriots will have their opportunity to convince Brady to stay. But at this point, Brady is evaluating the NFL landscape with the intention of departing, sources said.
Brady is coming off a solid, though unspectacular 2019 season by his standards, leading the Patriots to a 12-4 season and an 11th consecutive AFC East title.
Starting in all 16 games, he completed 60.8% of his passes, throwing for 4,057 yards and finding the end zone 24 times. Brady threw only eight interceptions but saw both his passer rating (88.0) and QBR (52.5) significantly decline from the previous year.
With Raiders general manager Mike Mayock recently being non-committal to Derek Carr and continuing to explore the market for upgrades at the quarterback position, many have cited Las Vegas as a potential landing spot for Brady if he departs the Patriots.
Brady was spotted talking to Raiders owner Mark Davis at a UFC event last month, which has only added fuel to the fire.
