Well, the Tom Brady saga just got a whole lot more interesting.
Brady is reportedly open to moving on from New England, and his reps have already met with the Colts, Chargers and Raiders about a possible union.
Is Brady actually going to leave New England, or does he simply want the Patriots to grovel? Does that actually matter to players?
“Does it matter for Tom? Yeah, I think it matters,” Super Bowl MVP and NFL Network analyst Kurt Warner said on Tiki & Tierney. “I think it matters to all of us. We all have egos. None of us want to feel like we got kicked out of anything. We want to believe like we left on our own volition. But I think the other side of it too is that I feel like Tom is the one that put himself here. The reason that they’re here is because Tom wanted to be here for some reason. I don’t know what reason is. I don’t know if it’s because he wants New England to come to him so he feels like they really want him. I don’t know if it’s because he really wants to check out what life is like on the other side. But the reason that they’re here is because Tom’s placed himself here for whatever reason. And so, from that standpoint, I think he’s very much in control. He put himself in this position for that reason, and I think we’re all intrigued to see what that reason is.”
Warner knows what it’s like to have success with a franchise before being moving on. He led the Rams to a Super Bowl title in 1999 and a Super Bowl appearance in 2001. The Rams, however, released Warner in 2004 with three years left on his contract.
“It didn’t necessarily end well with the Rams,” Warner said. “I was more kicked out of the Rams organization than it was my choice to leave for sure. Again, we all have egos. There’s a lot of different factors that went into that. I know primarily why it happened. I think it’s hard to have a divorce like that and not have a little bit of animosity, at least in the short term. At the end of the day, you’re able to take a step back and understand why things happened and how they happen for a reason and being a guy of faith and seeing how my career played out where you’re able to sooth over some of those things that happened in the short term. But without question, something happens like that when you’ve had some really good times and it doesn’t end well, yeah, there’s always going to be at least a little bit of animosity that’s there. Whether it’s on both sides or one side, it’s definitely a real thing.”
For the record, Warner believes the Patriots give Brady the best chance of winning a Super Bowl.
“I still think New England is the best spot for him,” Warner said. “I think if he wants to compete and he wants to be successful and compete for a championship, I still think New England is that best place.”
If Brady does leave, Warner believes the Titans would be an ideal landing spot. Whatever Brady decides, Warner believes he should stay in the AFC – but that he should avoid the AFC West.
“Do you really want to go into a division where you’ve got to play against Patrick Mahomes twice a year just to win the division?” Warner asked. “Especially in a situation where you’ve won your division every year that you’ve played and [are] usually a 1- or 2-seed? Is that the right spot?”