The 2019 NFL season is about to get underway. That means there will be all kinds of odds on who will be the next Super Bowl champion, who will win league MVP, and what coach may be the first to be on the unemployment line. There are literally thousands of things you could bet on even before the season gets underway.
While this is true, there is one wager that many people will be wanting to get in on – will Tom Brady retire at the end of the 2019 season?
It’s become the annual event. The question everyone is talking about. The retirement of the New England Patriots quarterback is drawing more fanfare than what NFL fans were forced to endure during the final six or seven seasons of Brett Favre’s illustrious career.
Every season it seemed like Favre was ready to hang up his cleats, but that is not true of Brady. While many have speculated and have even pushed for him to retire, including wife Gisele Bundchen, the quarterback has always been adamant on the fact that he wants to keep playing. Even speculating once that he would like to play into his 50s.
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The odds of him retiring are set at +1200. What that means is that oddsmakers have not believed he would retire even directly after winning Super Bowl LIII.
We already told you that it is unlikely that Tom Brady will be the MVP this season, so, will he retire at the end of the season? Here are three reasons to believe that he won’t.
The New Contract
In the off-season, Tom Brady signed a very interesting contract. The extension ensured that at the end of the 2019 season that he would be declared a free agent without the team being able to use their franchise tag on him. His salary was just $1.75 million with a signing bonus of $7.5 million and a roster bonus of $62,500 for each game he is on the active roster.
With an additional renegotiated signing bonuses of $7 million and $5 million it put his total salary at $21.5 million, making him the seventh highest-paid quarterback in the NFL.
All those numbers sound terrific and are well deserving of the man who could very well be the greatest player in the history of the sport, but the one thing to pay attention to was his ability to become a free agent. Could Tom Brady really be considering leaving the New England Patriots after the season?
That is a possibility, especially considering he had it added to his contract that the team could not use its franchise tag on him. What this may mean is that he may have another destination where he would like to play for at least a season or two.
A player of Brady’s stature simply doesn’t include that in the contract if he’s not intending to use it. So, Patriots fans, enjoy your quarterback because he may not be with your team after the season, but he will likely still be playing football.
A Chance to Play Elsewhere
We are honestly going to belabor this point a little bit because Brady made a statement to good buddy Jim Gray that should have Patriots fans concerned. When asked if he felt appreciated by the team, the star quarterback replied, “I think everybody, in general, wants to be appreciated more at work in their professional life.”
For a guy who has spent 19 years as the team’s quarterback, leading them to six Super Bowl championships, that is not exactly a ringing endorsement.
In each of the last two off-seasons, Brady has skipped the organized team activities so he can spend more time with his family. What that may also mean is that Brady is simply tired of being in the same location.
He has proven himself to be the consummate team guy. Many seasons he has accepted contracts far beneath his value, so the team could have more money available to sign big-time free agents. He has done everything the team has asked from him and more.
It looks likely that he wants a season or two that is all about him. The opportunity to play somewhere else, just to see what it would like to be Tom Brady in Oakland, Dallas, Green Bay, or some other location. Maybe even (dare we say) New York.
He Wants to Play
This is probably the most important factor of all. Tom Brady has made it clear he wants to play into his mid-40s so he can be the oldest starting quarterback in NFL history. Entering the 2019 season he will be 42, meaning he will need at least four more years to reach that mark.
If his numbers had fallen off in recent years, there would be cause to believe there was no way he will attain that longevity status. However, Brady continues to be one of the top three quarterbacks in the league each and every season. Last year he threw for 4,355 yards and 29 touchdowns, completing 65.8% of his passes. In each of the last three seasons, he has completed at least 65% of all pass attempts.
Brady is not even looking like he is slowing down at all. He led the league in passing yards per game in 2017 (286.1) and led the league in total passing yards that same season with 4,577. Three seasons ago he threw just two interceptions in 432 attempts.
This is still arguably the best quarterback in the league, and until someone is able to prove they can stop him, there is really no reason for him to believe he can’t play at least four more years.
Is Tom Brady going to retire at the end of the season? No way! Some may say that he is still in the prime of his career, and that is not hyperbole. It looks like no one is going to bench the star quarterback other than himself, and he is not ready to do that.
So, get ready for this same question next season, and probably the season after that, and the season after that as well.