Tom Brady doesn’t need another Super Bowl to solidify his career in the halls of Canton. He is the best to ever do it at his position. Whether we go off of stats, longevity, championships, or any other criteria, Brady is at the top. Yet there is still the will to win and the fire to compete. His time in Tampa has ended similarly to how it did in Foxborough. A disappointing season capped by a disappointing playoff exit. Brady is once again on the precipice of retirement and as he stands on that edge we can all see him looking at the landscape of the NFL to see if there is one more ring out there to be had for him. Teams will be calling, and Tom will probably be answering those calls if they present a legitimate chance at a Lombardi. The real question is what teams really even give him that opportunity?
Well if you are anyone following the happenings around the NFL, the Las Vegas Raiders seem to have an inside track. McDaniels is the head coach and has familiarity with Brady. The WR room has a legit No. 1 in Adams, a slot guy in Renfroe, and a smattering of potential. There is a legit tight-end in Waller who has all the skills Brady likes. The only really issue here is the need to get a running back since Josh Jacobs is now a free agent and could get other suitors after the rather impressive season he had. All in all the team looks like it could compete for a playoff run on paper. Then again that is exactly how we felt this season and we all saw how that turned out.
The other side of this coin is the amount of competition in the NFL that exists in the AFC and the AFC West. 2 games a year against Mahomes at a minimum, and then the possibility of meeting Burrow and/or Allen in the playoffs if not Mahomes again for a 3rd time. That seems like a rough road to make a playoff run and it would most likely be on the road since winning the Division would be a tall task in itself. Not exactly the most ideal option for a guy trying to ensure that the 2023 season ends in a championship. That raises the question, is there anywhere else?
The dark horse in all of this is a team that offers comparable talent to that Raiders team with an easier path to the playoffs. They have a top 3 WR (who is probably arguably No. 1 in the league), a running back who is a dual threat machine and dangerous in space, and a tight-end that has finally gotten somewhere to show just how good he can be. If you haven’t figure it out yet, I will tell you the team I am talking about. It is the Minnesota Vikings.
From the Vikings perspective, the defense is a glaring need for reform but has pieces to be efficient. The offense has all the components to be lethal, but has had the same flaw as Vikings teams past. The QB position is the only thing holding them back. Kirk Cousins is not taking you to a Super Bowl and is taking up a lot of money for mediocrity. Trading Kirk after June 1st , according to Over the Cap, would save them $30 million in cap space. That is an easy enough number to give to Brady. They are tighter to the cap than the Raiders but lets not forget that the Packers were $40+ million over the cap in the offseason and still managed to give Rodgers a HUGE deal (even though it was not worth it in my opinion). So Brady is a realistic acquisition. He also is familiar with Kevin O’Connell, whom he played with in the early 2000’s with the Patriots. Starting to look realistic? Yeah, I think so too.
Brady is after a championship. There is no reason to come back other then to win in his mind. The Vikings have a history of wasting talent and underperforming at the QB position. If they want Justin Jefferson to stay, without having to franchise tag him, then they need to get serious about winning. The thought of Brady throwing bombs to Jefferson, seams to Hockenson, check downs to Cook, and Thielen in that slot is absolutely terrifying. Minnesota has all the pieces, go get Brady.