Last updated on May 29, 2002 5:38 PM EDT
Here's why I think that the Pats have the leverage when dealing with Tom Brady on a contract extension during the 2002 cap year.
A couple of presumptions - Brady and his agent, Don Yee, want to obtain a market-level contract for a Pro Bowl QB and Super Bowl MVP.
- They have Huard and Davey. If BB and Pioli were able to see something in Brady, there is a good chance that they also saw something within Huard and Davey.
- They will have the cap room to match any offer. Also, 14 teams are already over the projected 2003 cap
figure. Two teams (the Bucs and the Bills) don't have a #1 pick in 2003 so I am pretty sure that they won't
be allowed to make an offer for Brady.
- The last time a recent Super Bowl champion had 3
#1s that team (the Rams) return to the Super Bowl.
Will another team take the chance that they will be setting
up the Pats for a dynasty run??
- The 2003 QB class looks to be a pretty good one
which helps the Pats in two ways. They could decide to
go with a Leftwich, Ragone, Simms, as their QB of the
future and unless they could ended up with the #1
overall pick that player would not sign for Bledsoe
money. Drew Henson, the former Michigan QB, could ask the NFL to include his name in the 2003 draft. Before he signed his contract with the Yankees, he was considered as a first-round pick.
- With a relatively large supply of young QBs, will
there be a large demand for Brady if he is a fluke in
2002??
- The Pats can easily claim that they don't have the
cap room to give Brady Bledsoe money this year. How
likely is it that Don Yee is going to publicly suggest
how the Pats could free up cap room?
- Also, how likely is that the Pats will how likely is that the Pats will extend Brady before addressing Troy Brown??Will the Pats upset the chemistry by taking care of Brady before they upgrade
the contract of the player many Patriots thought was
the Patriots MVP, at least according to a caption in
the Patriots Football Weekly. I do recall hearing
Lawyer Milloy, one of the team's leaders, call Troy,
the team MVP.
- Brady can not hold out.If Brady, as a player with
only two years in the NFL, holds out this summer, he
will not be able to become a RFA after the 2002
season, an UFA after the 2003 season.
http://www.nflpa.org/media/main.asp?subPage=Reporting+Date+and+Player+Holdouts
" A player will not receive an Accrued Season toward
free agency for any league year in which the player is
under contract to his club and he fails to report to
that club at least thirty (30) days prior to the first
regular season game. This is an important
consideration for a player who has played fewer than
the minimum number of Accrued Seasons needed to be an
Unrestricted Free Agent (four Accrued Seasons is the
current minimum)."
- These starting QBs (Brooks, Collins, Plummer) will be UFAs after this season. If those 3 QBs extend their contracts, that will eliminate 3 teams from pursuing Brady. If they don't, a team may decide that they would be better off with one of the trio, their #1 pick, and their #3 pick rather than Brady.
- If the Pats and Brady were not able to come to an agreement and Brady plays under the RFA tender offer in 2003, the Pats could slap Brady with the exclusive franchise player tag for the 2004 season. They would then become the only team allowed to negotiate with Brady. 5/31/2002 Update. It was pointed out to me that the Pats could place the franchise player tag on Brady after the 2002 season.
- If it came down to a public relations battle, I think that the public would side with BB and Pioli rather than with Brady. After all, they were the true architects of the Super Bowl winning team.
If you have any corrections, suggestion, questions, and/or comments, please feel free to post them on the PatsFans.Com forum. I will try to respond to them within a day.
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