I struggle to understand why people don’t view a one-year investment of $24M in an extremely talented backup quarterback that could then take over the reigns a year later as anything but a short-term sacrifice for a rock-solid long-term investment.
Well, I do understand - it’s really bred out of undying loyalty to TB12 - but I don’t understand how so many normally rational thinkers pocket their better judgement in favor of grasping onto a player that’s very close to becoming a nostalgia act.
Well, what's the surplus value of Jimmy G on a deal that makes him like a top 5-10 highest paid quarterback in the NFL? Is it $24MM of cap space on a team that's a favorite to win the Super Bowl heading into the year (with the obvious Brady age caveat)? I dont know. Maybe. If JGs a Hall of Famer, its well above that. If he's Matt Stafford/Kirk Cousins its probably flat to negative Both seem in the range of outcomes to me, so I dont really see it as a fist pump man look at all that value created situation. Plus I dont view the long-term investment as definite. A franchise tag just keeps JG under contract for '18 and creates an even more expensive option for '19 and '20. That's it. What's the plan if Tom Brady plays at a high level again in 2018? Move on regardless after another ring or MVP or two? Franchise tag number two? How much leverage do the Pats have in the extension if JG has told them he wants to start somewhere in '18 and then the Pats tag him? "Hey, we paid you $24MM not to play last year and have anointed you the heir to Tom Brady, how about you take a bottom half starting quarterback contract to play for a 67 year old coach and stay off the open market"? Maybe it works after JG has collected the cash from the franchise tag, I dont know, but it doesnt seem certain. Given that BB seemed to like JG and is not an idiot, it seems likely that JG wasnt looking to sign some sort of bridge extension (the time to do that would have been last offseason at the latest). So I just dont see how keeping two QBs next year was superior to just moving on from one of them.
And again, I think there's a pretty decent case for taking the full measure of just moving on from Brady and going with Jimmy G after this season, but I hate the half measure of paying JG an expensive option to sit on the bench for another year. My reasons for wanting them not to do it are strictly fan preference and I agree with you that its the one player where Kraft is going to have a say in personnel decisions. I just personally dont see it as the affront to BB that some do, rules have special case exceptions and this is the definition of a special case.
EDIT: disagree pretty strongly about the MVP case for the same reason trying to keep JG at an expensive number is even an option worth discussing. A run of the mill excellent RB season is never more valuable than a run of the mill elite QB season, and that's kind of what we have here. Whatever if Gurley wins a voted award, but in terms of just "value added on the football field", there's no way Gurley is more valuable than Brady. Brady's team had the better record to boot.
