Patriots: Tom Brady talks about why he continues to back Antonio Brown

Patriots legend Tom Brady talked about why he continues to support embattled WR Antonio Brown, who just signed a one-year deal with the Buccaneers.

All football fans have quietly been aware of the fact that (former) free agent wide receiver Antonio Brown’s eight-game suspension for multiple violations of the NFL’s personal-conduct policy will conclude in short order, so it wasn’t surprising when ESPN insider Adam Schefter reported that the embattled superstar had a visit with the Seahawks lined up.

As fast as that news emerged, however, Brown boarded a flight to Tampa Bay and inked a one-year contract with the Buccaneers, confirming a reunion with quarterback Tom Brady, who was the lloudest advocate within the Patriots organization to sign him last season following his controversial release from Oakland.

The Patriots legend has caught a ton of flak for continuing to defend Brown, who some argue should’ve been out of the league for good after his laundry list of alarming incidents. Well, in light of all this criticism, Brady offered up his side of the story in a truly insightful interview with reporters this week.

Brady’s response started out a little shaky, as he implied that he always tries to bring a positive “impact to our locker room.” If we learned anything about the way Brown’s respective tenures in Pittsburgh and Oakland ended, he is clearly a detriment when it comes to establishing a strong team bond.

With that being said, however, Brady went on to make some salient points about former Patriots veterans who took him under their wings early on in his career. That obviously wasn’t the greatest comparison, as the six-time champion wasn’t (and never will be) on the same stratosphere as Brown when it comes to maturity and personality issues. Brown also isn’t early in his career by any means.

However, there’s something to be said for Brady being seemingly the only player in the league who feels responsible to help the seven-time Pro Bowler turn his life around, regardless of whether he deserves that opportunity.

Considering his track record, we wouldn’t think twice in asserting that Brown shouldn’t be afforded that luxury, as he literally did everything possible to derail what was shaping up to be one of the greatest careers from a wide receiver in NFL history.

Whatever the case, Brown is the Buccaneers’ problem now, and for Brady’s sake we hope his unwavering commitment to support him doesn’t blow up in his face. Given that the 32-year-old is a walking time bomb, we can’t say with any ounce of confidence that this signing will work out for either party.

3 buy-low trade candidates Bill Belichick needs to target before deadline

The New England Patriots need to make changes at the deadline, and even if they decide to sell, they can also target these buy-low players.