Report: Tom Brady not expected to be regular participant in offseason program

Tom Brady will not be present for the first official day of the New England Patriots’ offseason training program on Monday, but he has a good reason for that. The quarterback is currently in Qatar doing work with his charity and won’t be returning until Monday evening.

Once he’s back, Brady will resume his role of being the first one to the Patriots’ facility and taking part in almost all team-organized workouts, right? According to ESPN’s Jeff Darlington, not exactly.

Even after Tom Brady returns from Qatar, I do not anticipate he will be a regular participant in team’s offseason program. He plans to spend more time with family and body coach Alex Guerrero. Brady did miss parts of Pats’ offseason program in 08, 09 and 10 so not unprecedented.

— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) April 16, 2018

Brady may have missed parts of the offseason program in the past, but the circumstances are different this year. Given all the tension that exists within the Patriots organization (most of it seemingly stemming from Brady’s training methods), any absence will be viewed as the result of that. Brady knows that, so he can’t really skip workouts and expect fans and the media to read nothing into it.

In addition to the training issues, there is also the fact that Brady’s contract expires after next season. If he truly wants to play until he’s 45, that means he should be in line for an extension. The comments Patriots owner Robert Kraft recently made about Brady’s contract were a bit surprising, at the very least.