OK I will say it, and I will piss off alot of people.
When does this become Selfish of Tom Brady?
You want to play till your 45. Fine, You certainly thus far seem to have the performance to reach that goal. However, your performance has always been based on your ultra effort driven by your competitiveness. That combined with your TEAM, that you worked to integrate seamlessly with (Showing up to all the voluntary stuff, pointing out those that didnt, hosting guys in Montana etc etc).
If thats going to become lacking then that could be a problem. Maybe not for Tom Bradys Personal stats, but for the other players and the team that depend on a dedicated QB.
Also if the Rumors are true (and I realize it could be just mongering) that Brady is making noise about (and the OTA absence is an extension of that) a new contract/more money, then as a Pats fan I take offense.
I get that these guys put there bodies on the line. I get that they should make it while they can. But thats not what this is about with Brady. He could retire tomorrow and have a (relatively) healthy life. He has more then enough money for several generations. This is about ego. And ego at this point irks me when his image has always been based on having no ego when it came to the team. Had he always been about making sure he got paid then strangely I would be more ok about him wanting big contracts in his twilight. Instead he seems to be just doing this to prove he is the GOAT. Its like he looks down the list and says "Well I really havent ever been paid like the GOAT, so maybe I should do that now."
Even if this isnt just about money but about "treatment" its again like he said "Never been a Favre-esque primadonna before, but as the GOAT I should warrant that treatmen dammit".
Look if Brady said tomorrow I am done, I would hold nothing against him. He owes us nothing in my opinion. What would change that view is 2-4 years of "I want my cake and to eat it too" of spending time with his family but also playing the uber competitive card. I dont believe you can have it both ways.
He has always said "When I cant commit 100% I will quit. This team, Mr. Kraft and Coach Belicheck deserve that." We always took him at his word and that was a big part of what we respected about him. Well now he is changing the rules. He will couch it in some "I am as committed now as I ever was". But his actions says otherwise.
Maybe it was unfair to expect him to continue to be the same kind of maniac he always has been, but HE said he would always be that way or he would hang them up.
To me this feels like his heart isnt in it anymore (to the maniacal extent it was), but after he pulled the Jimmy G power play he knows that retiring now would in a lot of peoples minds tarnish his image. So he is going to "Half ass it" (for Brady anyway) for a year or 3 so he can say "See even when I forced them to choose between Jimmy and I, I still stuck around out of loyalty."
I hope he realizes that there will be no round 2 of "Young QB comes in and needs to be put in his place/shipped out". The dedicated leader we believed Brady to always be would instead do everything in his power to prepare the new kid for the future.
Time Sucks. I am now writing anti Brady posts.
You didn't piss me off. I don't even hate your post, despite your repeating of the tiresome (and likely incorrect) story about there being a Brady power play that caused JG to be traded.
Yes, ideally, Brady would be there. There are new receivers on board, Edelman is getting his timing back, etc. And teammates will naturally look upon Brady as being a leader, and it's natural for the team (and fans) to want Brady to show leadership by example.
OTOH, of all players currently on the rosters of the 4 local sports teams that should be given some leeway, Brady is first, and the gap between him and #2 on that list is greater than the distance to Neptune. From a pure football perspective, Brady can probably afford to miss these OTA's. He's not going to show up to camp looking like Pablo Sandoval. He'll get plenty of reps in July to work with the receivers under more realistic conditions. He probably knows the offense better than most of the coaching staff. He's missed OTA's before and still followed those missed OTA's with amazing seasons.
For MLB, NHL, and NBA players, I'm fully on board with the argument that you play according to the terms of your contract, even if the market changes. For NFL, that argument holds absolutely no water whatsoever. Players can be lose their job and be cut just about anytime, leaving millions of dollars on the table. Brady doesn't technically have that problem, as his contract is guaranteed. But he's done the team a huge favor during the last couple of restructures, and as a result he is paid well under market. He'll be 16th highest paid QB in 2018, behind notable Hall of Famers such as Garappolo, Matt Stafford, Kirk Cousins, Derek Carr, Joe DPI Flacco, Cam Newton, and Alex Fucking Smith!!!!!! So, yes, he has a right to be pissed if the team is holding a hard line on extension talks. And, if fans insist that Brady still follow the terms of his contract to the letter, then Brady similarly has the option to follow the CBA to the letter and miss OTA's. That's life, and like it or not the team has to deal with that.
Finally, as for keeping both QB's on the roster, it was impossible due to the salary cap. There was nothing to work out; it was not feasible. Take a long, hard look at JG's contract with the 49'ers before saying something "could have been worked out". About the only way it could have worked is if Brady came in to Kraft's office and said that 2018 would be his last season. In that case, yes, they could have potentially structured JG's contract with roster bonuses and the like so that they could have kept him under the cap in 2018 before ballooning in 2019 when Brady's salary would be off. But once Brady decided he wanted to keep playing beyond 2018, there was absolutely nothing the Pats could do, especially given the fact that Don Yee represented both QB's, a huge issue that is being conveniently ignored by your response. The only other option would have been for the Pats to say "to hell with your wishes, we're switching to JG in 2019". If you don't see why Kraft didn't do that, well, I don't know what to tell you.