Tom Brady is now officially free to negotiate with all 32 teams in the National Football League.
The NFL’s legal tampering period is officially open, meaning it’s now only a matter of hours or days before we know where the four-time Super Bowl MVP will be suiting up in 2020.
And according the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the market for Brady consists of three teams.
The Patriots recently used their franchise tag on offensive guard Joe Thuney (valued at $14.8 million), and re-signed both safety Devin McCourty (two years, $23 million) and special teams ace Matthew Slater (two years, $5.3 million), leaving themselves roughly $23.6 million in salary cap space to work with.
Needless to say, the Patriots have some work to do if they intend to both sign Brady and add some offensive firepower around him.
The Buccaneers are now the betting favorites to land Brady according to some sportsbooks, and on paper ($66 million in cap space, and loads of talent already in place on offense) they have to look like a very attractive option for No. 12.
The Chargers also have to look very appealing to Brady on paper. Outside of their offensive line issues (which are significant), this team has enough talent on both sides of the ball to compete for a championship. To top it off, they have just under $52 million in salary cap space to work with.
Regardless of how this situation plays out, it will be nice to put an end to the months of rumors and speculation about Brady’s future.
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