As Tom Brady heads for free agency for the first time, what kind of contract he'll command from the Patriots or elsewhere has been the source of nearly as much speculation as just where he'll play next season.
Brady's history of team-friendly deals is legendary. On Wednesday at the Super Bowl, talking to on 98.5 The Sports Hub's "Felger & Mazz" show simulcast on NBC Sports Boston, former Patriots executive Scott Pioli related a story that summed up what negotiating with TB12 is like and demonstrated Brady's unselfishness.
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"Tommy came into my office one morning. He comes in and closes the door," Pioli recalled, "I said, 'Tom we're not supposed to be talking about this. I can't negotiate with you'.
He said, 'This is just two friends talking. This isn't a negotiation.' He talked about this number that was $10 million a year. Six years. $60 million [that should tell you how long ago it was]. And I'll never forget, he looked at me, and I won't give you the full language he used, and he said, 'Hey, if my family and I can't live on $60 million there's really something wrong.'
" ... That specific moment transcended ... I knew how great of a team player he was. I knew how important everybody else was to him."
New England Patriots
Gotta figure that $10 million a year isn't going to cut it this time, but $60 million - for two years - just might.
Watch the video above for more of the discussion.