Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports Boston spoke with multiple sources who gave differing opinions of what the free agent market might look like for Brady, but the most interesting tidbit was that the Raiders are not planning to pull out all the stops for Brady. As it was described to Curran, Jon Gruden is not going to ignore Brady if the 42-year-old’s camp reaches out, but the Raiders are not “planning to give great chase.”
Of course, people close to Brady insist teams are going to be fighting it out for a chance to sign the six-time Super Bowl champion, and that may end up being the case. The Los Angeles Chargers are moving into a new stadium and are desperate to drum up fan interest, so they may write Brady a blank check. The Tennessee Titans also make sense, as Brady’s former teammate Mike Vrabel is their head coach and they reached the AFC Championship Game last year. Other teams like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Miami Dolphins — who probably have little chance to win the sweepstakes — will almost certainly try to entice Brady with a big offer.
While there were numerous reports last week that Brady has informed people close to him he is leaving New England, the Patriots are going to have their chance to convince him to stay. According to Curran, Brady is still in Bill Belichick’s plans for next season, and the coach has not been freezing Brady out.
The Raiders could still pivot and make Brady an offseason priority, but the recent comments Gruden made about Derek Carr may have been telling.
