A lot was made of Drew Brees' comments on The Greg Hill Show this week when he was in town for a head-shaving event to benefit Boston Children's Hospital.
"Listen, I have no intention of going anywhere," he said. "I don't care what the offer would be or what the situation might be, I am Who Dat Nation for life."
People immediately compared this to Tom Brady and how they are in the same position, but yet have completely different approaches as free agents. It's easy to understand why, since the Saints have made it pretty clear they want Brees back and have a number of weapons in place for him to play with, while the Patriots haven't made their feelings towards Brady clear and the weapons really aren't in place at the moment.
Tom Brady and Drew Brees have thrown a combined 1,088 career touchdowns passes.Elsa/Getty Images
Who would have thought there would be a time where Brees would be more committed to the Saints than Brady would be to the Patriots? But, it's pretty easy to see how.
In recent years the Saints have helped Brees more than the Patriots have helped Brady, and money doesn't have much to do with it. If the Patriots gave Brady the same weapons as the Saints have given Brees the last few years — Alvin Kamara, Michael Thomas and Jared Cook — the Patriots quarterback could be making the same comments as Brees and not be on the verge of signing with another team as a free agent.
Brady always took less money in order to make it easier to acquire players to help him, but when he's taking less money and he's not getting any help, he's not going to be happy. And when it happens in back-to-back seasons, that's when he starts considering playing for other teams and the two sides find themselves in the position they are today.
More clarity on Brady's market could be learned this week with the franchise tag window expiring Thursday. The Titans are the team to keep an eye on most, as Ryan Tannehill has the potential to be hit with the tag. Obviously, if he is that removes the Titans from being involved in the Brady sweepstakes. If they don't, they remain as one of the teams at the top. Tampa Bay could franchise Jameis Winston, and if they do, that would of course take them out of the mix, as well. Finally, the Cowboys haven't been mentioned much, but if they don't do anything with Dak Prescott, they too remain a dark horse.
There could be something to the notion that Brady's market might not be as robust as first thought. There are now reports coming out from NFL Network that the Raiders may be more interested in a quarterback like Marcus Mariota than Brady. Las Vegas was one of the teams thought to be heavily involved, but maybe that isn't the case after all. There was also a report this week that said the Titans could be using Brady as leverage when it comes to contract talks with Tannehill. Interesting, but possible. So, when it comes to teams really interested in the 42-year-old and teams he would actually play for, it might not be that long of a list.
Understanding that the 42-year-old Brady had a lot to do with it, the Patriots had the oldest roster in the league in 2019 at an average of 27 years of age. This came following the 2018 season, when they were third-oldest. This is something the Patriots need to address this offseason and look to get younger. With that being said, there's a balancing act because if they allow their top older players (ie. Devin McCourty and Brady) to move on and replace them with, say, draft picks or second-year players, the team is going to be much worse. Bill Belichick will need to find a way to get younger, while not sacrificing much talent. Part of this comes with getting more out of draft picks than they have in recent years.
When it was learned this week that the Patriots would be picking up Jason McCourty's option for 2020, some speculated that it could help bring his twin brother Devin back as well. That take is not wrong.
"In an ideal world, we play together," the twins told NBC Sports Boston the week of the Super Bowl. Devin will likely have a few teams interested, but it should not be understated how much the two have enjoyed not only playing together, but also having their families together the last couple of seasons.
One of the trickle-down effects of the CBA being worked on is the 2020 salary cap number hasn't been officially released along with franchise tag figures, as well as compensatory picks in April's draft. Typically, the compensatory picks are released the week before the NFL Combine, which has obviously come and gone. This shows that it isn't just contract negotiations being impacted by the CBA talks, it's also housekeeping league matters.
While the focus is on free agency, college pro days are off and running across the country. There are a few notable ones this week, so it wouldn't be surprising to see Belichick, Nick Caserio and Co. present at a few. Here are the notables: March 11- Arkansas, Oklahoma, Wisconsin. March 12- Clemson, Nebraska, Oregon. March 13- Michigan.
