Before you say it, let me get this out of the way; I hate all the Tom Brady speculation as much as you do, and although I trust my reporting, this thing is far from decided in any direction.
With that said, sources tell CLNS Media that there’s now little chance that Tom Brady returns to the Patriots in 2020 unless the quarterback has a change of heart over the next few weeks.
We don’t know for sure that Brady is or isn’t coming back and nobody is claiming that here. But it’s become clear that the Patriots need to make a strong pitch to the GOAT to keep him in New England.
If he does leave, I would rank his landing spots: 1. Titans 2. 49ers 3. Raiders, with the Niners being a team that interests Brady greatly, but San Fran is unsure if they want to go that route.
As far as New England’s pitch, both NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran and the Boston Herald’s Karen Guregian reported that Belichick and Brady spoke earlier this week about the quarterback’s future.
Curran described the phone conversation as not “particularly productive” with Belichick failing to show Brady the love that he desires from the only coach he has ever played for in the NFL.
Although Belichick’s bedside manner wasn’t the best, Brady might get something that he wants through the Hoodies’ actions rather than his words in the form of a trade to bolster the offense.
According to a source, the Patriots are actively shopping for offensive weapons in a trade that could go down before free agency begins with the legal tampering period on March 16. At this time, I have no information on Belichick’s trade targets.
We have two more weeks of noise until a decision, but things aren’t looking good for a return to the Patriots, and it’s going to take some serious massaging and personnel moves to sway the GOAT back over to this side of the fence.
