Patriots fans should watch closely as NFLPA nears CBA vote

If a new CBA is agreed upon between NFL owners and players, it could have a dramatic impact on Tom Brady’s future with the New England Patriots.

The biggest storyline to follow these days in the NFL has nothing to do with the upcoming combine in Indianapolis.

Make no mistake, the combine is always moderately exciting and newsworthy in itself. It’s a chance to see talented collegiate athletes who could very well be starters in the pros come this fall showcase just what makes them special as athletes, whether it’s their speed, strength, specific skill, or some combination of all those things.

More importantly, it’s also the first major milestone in the NFL calendar. You can make a pretty compelling argument that from a fan’s perspective, the new season starts with the combine, free agency, and the draft, and ends with the playoffs and then of course the Super Bowl.

Despite all that, the biggest storyline right now is the potential ratification of a new collective bargaining agreement between NFL players and owners. The new CBA already had a majority of owners vote to approve it, and while a majority of members in the NFLPA’s executive committee voted against it, the deal is still very much alive.

NFLPA reps and owners are scheduled to sit down face-to-face in Indianapolis on Tuesday to seek further clarity on several issues that players find concerning. If these concerns can be mollified sufficiently, there’s a good chance the deal goes to all the NFL players for a vote. The deal would just need the majority of players to vote in support of it to become “law.”

If indeed it does, it could go in effect as early as this coming season. Among the many radical changes that would occur, the playoffs would be expanded from 12 teams to 14 teams — with a new wild card team in each conference joining the fray — and the regular season would swell from 16 games to 17 games, with one week of the preseason removed as a result.

As it relates specifically to the New England Patriots, as well, a new deal would be significant because it would allow for the team to offer quarterback Tom Brady a deal similar to the one they gave him at the start of the 2019 season.

Brady and the Pats agreed on a two-year deal worth $70 million last August, but the second year was a “void year,” meaning it allowed for him to become a free agent (as is about to happen).

The current CBA as its constructed wouldn’t allow for them to do a similar deal once again, but a new CBA would — meaning they could front-load a multi-year deal with enough money to keep Brady potentially in Foxborough and happy, while still saving enough money against the gap because of the void year clause to pay for some supporting stars.

In other words, if you’re a fan of Brady staying in New England with the Patriots at least another season, you should be hoping the players and their representatives ultimately vote to pass this new CBA before free agency officially begins on March 18.