Might we be on the verge of the official collapse of the greatest dynasty in NFL history? ESPN NFL reporter Jeff Darlington seems to think so.
When discussing the future of 42-year-old quarterback Tom Brady on the ESPN morning show Get Up, Darlington, who is as connected to the Brady situation as anyone in sports media, dropped a bombshell that would send shockwaves throughout the National Football League.
“No matter how many times we say that Tom Brady is likely to not play for the Patriots next year I either get blasted or told that I am wrong,” Darlington said. “That makes sense, because we cannot wrap our heads around it.”
There are people very close to Tom Brady that are being told by Tom Brady, ‘it’s not going to happen, I’m going somewhere else.’ That’s the way that we’re operating now within those circles. And yet even those people don’t necessarily believe that Tom, at the end of the day, won’t go into Bill Belichick’s office, and Belichick won’t sit there and say to him, ‘Tom, we need you back. We have to have you back,’ and that Tom won’t then return to the Patriots.”
We need to wrap our minds around the fact that it is far more likely than not that Tom Brady will not be back with the Patriots. I am now at the point where I would be stunned if Tom Brady returns to the Patriots.”
The part that really sticks out there, at least to me, is where Darlington says, “I would be stunned if Tom Brady returns to the Patriots.” Because at the end of the day, someone a well-respected reporter like Darlington isn’t out to blow smoke.
The idea that Brady truly could be moving on to a new franchise has been met with a lot of resistance this offseason. And while he very well may still stay and finish his career in New England, more and more evidence keeps popping up that the four-time Super Bowl MVP has a desire to play elsewhere in 2020.
The crew on Get Up then delved into possible new homes for the future first-ballot Hall of Famer, and Darlington hinted that a surprise team may get involved.
When discussing potential landing spots for Brady, former NFL quarterback turned ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky suggested there is a zero percent chance Brady signs with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Darlington responded: “I’ll tell you right now, you are wrong on that. There is not a zero-percent chance of the Bucs [signing Brady]. You’ll want to raise that right now.”
Until Brady signs his next contract, wherever that may be, this will be the biggest story around the league.
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