New England Patriots: Only Tom Brady holds the keys to his future

The New England Patriots are in a unique situation with their quarterback, Tom Brady, who will become a free agent at the end of the season.

For the first time in his 20-year NFL career, Tom Brady will be a free agent at the end of this season (he constructed his last extension for this to happen). Brady doesn’t know what his future plans are just yet, and he’s not thinking about it either – his focus is solely on this current season. Given the circumstances of it all, it puts the New England Patriots in a unique situation.

Brady has a vision of himself playing until he’s 45 years old. Right now at 42 years old, he is still one of the best quarterbacks in the league, and he hasn’t really shown many signs to prove he’s not.

Surely if you look at this season you may think otherwise, but if you’re paying attention to some of the things that have happened to Brady’s offense this season… you may just alter your opinion.

Brady’s offense has taken some hits this season and has lost many players along the way. With a list this deep, its amazing Brady is still getting the job done that he is:

• Rookie first-round pick N’Keal Harry, who was placed on IR to start the season, but who will probably be returning in a few weeks.
• Starting center David Andrews is out for the entire season due to a blood clot in his lungs.
• Starting left tackle Isaiah Wynn has been on IR for most of his second season with the Pats, but he could also be set to return soon.
• Fullback James Develin was placed on IR after a neck injury earlier in the season.
• Josh Gordon placed on IR and may even be released.
• Antonio Brown never worked out.
• Demaryius Thomas was never given a chance.
• Both tight ends (Ryan Izzo and Matt LaCosse) have been hurt.
• Emergency tight end and backup fullback Jakob Johnson is on IR.

It’s hard to imagine any quarterback having success with this many missing pieces to the puzzle that is New England’s offense, and yet the Patriots are 8-0. Just because Tom Brady is the GOAT doesn’t mean he can win every game on his own. Every week it just seems like it’s something or someone different going down, and some new problem to have to overcome.

Last week against the New York Jets, running back James White led the Patriots in receiving yards. It isn’t odd for the running backs to be heavily involved in the passing game for New England, but Brady is clearly running out of options for receivers. He has been forced to look towards his undrafted rookie wide receivers Jakobi Meyers and Gunner Olszewski more than he’d like to, but he simply doesn’t have any other options.

The Patriots don’t expect Brady to give them an answer tomorrow on his plans, but the question of his future has to be in the back of their minds. What Brady and the Pats are doing has never been done before… it’s borderline legendary. Advancing to the playoffs and so many Super Bowls with a quarterback over the age of 40 is truly remarkable.

But all good things eventually come to an end.

We have all seen and heard how Brady’s wife Giselle feels about her husband continuing to play football from the docu-series “Tom vs. Time“. It seems obvious that she’s been ready for him to retire for a while now.

As much as Brady loves his family, football is an important part of his life… and you can’t just stop something meaningful to you with the snap of a finger. It takes time.

Only Tom Brady holds the keys to his future. I do think this season has a lot to do with his ultimate decision. I also think Brady feels as if he is responsible for the team’s future, and doesn’t want to retire until he feels the team is left in a good place.