After suffering their earliest postseason exit since 2009, the New England Patriots’ future is very much in doubt, particularly as it pertains to Tom Brady.
Did the Patriots’ dynasty end with their 20-13 loss to the Titans last Saturday?
Former NFL executive Scott Pioli says no.
“I don’t [think so,” Pioli said on The DA Show. “Do I think it’s changed? Has there been a dramatic shift? Yes, certainly there has. I was part of the group that drafted [Brady], and there’s definitely a difference. To me, one of the differences during some of those Super Bowl teams that I was blessed to be a part of, and even our Super Bowl loss team to the Giants in the 18-1 season, we were able to surround Tommy with a dynamic defense and also some other good players.”
Antowain Smith. Corey Dillon. Troy Brown. Deion Branch. Randy Moss. Wes Welker. Rob Gronkowski. The list goes on.
This year, however, Brady’s supporting cast didn’t offer much support.
“Things are different on a lot of different levels,” Pioli said. “They had this confluence of losing players and then players getting injured that seemed unique because they didn’t have backups like they had in the past to step up and make this team better. I do see things shifting, but I think it’s way too early. They’ve been half-buried before at different periods of time. The standard for them is if they don’t participate in a Super Bowl, it’s the end of an era. I think there’s a lot of people around the league that watch that, see that and revel in that. So it’s understandable, but I think it’s too early to call the end of the Patriots’ run.”
Brady, however, will hit free agency for the first time in his career. He has always taken less for the benefit of the team, but there are rumblings that he may want market value this time around. If so, he likely won’t get it from the Patriots.
“I’ll qualify this by saying I do not know any of that specifically for sure tat Tommy is in a different place and wanting to break the bank,” Pioli said. “As you mentioned, it’s a narrative. It’s all speculation. None of us are sure where that has come from or why that’s coming from anywhere. What I do know is over the last 20 years, he has taken less. Why he would change that now, I don’t know. Tommy has never said that publicly. His agent, Don Yee, has never said that publicly. No one has come out and said that, so I’m not sure what to believe with that because I’ve heard numerous rumors and speculation about Tommy over his 20 years, and a large majority of it ends up not being true. Time will tell if that’s what this story is this time.”