The uncertainty surrounding Tom Brady is more pervasive now than at any point over the previous 15 years. If you\u2019re wondering why it\u2019s because for the first time in his career, he\u2019s an unrestricted free agent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s a lot of chatter about him leaving the Patriots but it\u2019s unclear whether he actually will or not. The oddsmakers have posted the lines and if Brady does in fact leave, the Browns are the team that\u2019s favored to land him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First thing is first: is Brady leaving the Patriots? He can\u2019t go to the Cleveland Browns or any other team unless he first chooses to leave the New England Patriots, an organization where he has won six Super Bowls and played in nine. Brady has completely rewritten the NFL record books, and he has defined the flow of professional football in the 21st century, even more than Peyton Manning. Brady played in eight of the past nine AFC Championship Games. The story of the contemporary NFL puts him at the center of the action. No other player is as central to the league.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Does Brady want to leave this identity behind? Does he really want to play for another team and another coach after playing nearly 20 years in one place? It\u2019s unclear what\u2019s happening as both he and the franchise are clandestine about it. Why wouldn\u2019t he already have a deal in place? Why did he and his trainer Alex Guerrero sell those homes in the Boston area? Where there is smoke, there is some fire, so maybe Brady is planning to leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Browns are favored in this sweepstakes, but should they be? They haven\u2019t decided on their new coach yet but current Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is the favorite to land that job. The relationship between Brady and McDaniels is very close, so there is a school of thought which says that the team which hires McDaniels as its next head coach is where Brady will play quarterback. That is one of many possibilities, but it might be a stretch to think Brady will chase McDaniels. And even if he does, what happens to Baker Mayfield? The Browns spent the first overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft on Mayfield, so would they really bench him or move on from him this soon? It seems unlikely but they\u2019ve been losing for so long that bringing the GOAT might actually be the right thing for them to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where might Brady go in the end? The McDaniels angle matters, but one also has to consider the other quarterback situations around the NFL. Philip Rivers is probably done with the Chargers, which is why that team makes the most sense of any of the non-New England possibilities on the board. The Browns don\u2019t make as much sense because the ownership group, the Haslam family, is unreliable and doesn\u2019t have a good reputation in NFL circles. The Raiders have the appeal of playing their first season in a new city, Las Vegas. Derek Carr could leave the Raiders, which gives Brady a possible angle to go there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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