Tom Brady is considering taking the concept of the free-agency tour to the next level, swapping a tour of interested teams with a parade of interested teams coming to him, kissing the ring and/or the rump of the greatest quarterback to ever play the game in the hopes of getting him to play for them.
The possibility of Brady hosting interested teams and not the other way around, as reported by Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston, strongly suggests that Brady already knows that there will be a parade of interested teams.
With official free agency still a month away, unofficial free agency already has begun. Brady and/or his agent, Don Yee, are already hearing from the teams that will be inclined to sign him. And the possibility of having those interested teams come to see Brady means that Brady and Yee already know that there will be enough to justify the approach.
Who wouldn’t want Brady, even as he closes in on turning 43? He continues to play at a high level. And pro football continues to be about much more than football. It’s fundamentally a business, even if they don’t want us to think it’s a business.
Signing Brady would be great for business. He’d sell tickets. He’d sell suites. He’d get people who already have purchased tickets to show up and buy overpriced beverages and food and other things available at the stadium. And his new No. 12 jersey (even if his next team has retired it, he’ll be wearing it) would instantly become the hottest-selling piece of NFL merchandise, perhaps ever.
So, yes, teams should be lining up to sign him. And, yes, if he doesn’t re-sign with the Patriots, teams looking to make more money will be wise to give it a whirl.
Again, they already are. And apparently enough of them have shown enough interest to make Brady ponder the possibility of having all of them come see him, which would be the biggest free-agency power play of all time.
