Tom Brady congratulated Eli Manning after the longtime New York Giants quarterback’s retirement this offseason. Now, with 2020 NFL free agency fast approaching, is Brady about to take Manning’s old job? Set to enter unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career, the 42-year-old Brady appears well prepared to consider offers from teams other than the New England Patriots, his club of 20 years. And while the Giants wouldn’t seem to be a logical fit considering they just watched Manning pass the torch to Daniel Jones, the QB they drafted sixth overall in 2019, word around the NFL is that New York could actually be among those after Brady on the open market.
WEEI’s Dale Arnold hinted the Giants “may be interested” in Brady back in January. Former Patriots QB Scott Zolak cited a source “very connected” to Brady’s camp a few weeks later, saying not to overlook Big Blue as a landing spot. And now NFL Network’s Michael Giardi, a former Patriots reporter, has added fuel to the fire, passing along curious remarks from league execs at the combine on Wednesday.
“The initial reaction has been, ‘There’s no way Tom Brady is leaving New England,'” Giardi tweeted from the Scouting Combine. “But as you dig deeper, execs/coaches/scouts see the Titans, Raiders, and Giants as possible suitors.”
The Tennessee Titans make sense as a potential landing spot, what with Ryan Tannehill also scheduled to hit free agency and former Patriots standout Mike Vrabel manning the staff, and the Las Vegas Raiders have been speculated as suitors before, with reports indicating they’re prepared to offer Brady $60 million over two years. The Giants, on the other hand, would make for perhaps the most surprising of the possibilities, at least considering how much general manager Dave Gettleman has talked up Jones. Of course, Giants head coach Joe Judge (formerly of the Patriots) only added fuel to the Brady to the Giants fire with his comments from the combine on Tuesday.
Then again, it’s not that hard to play along. The Giants are loaded with salary cap space and could afford to give Brady big bucks. Their new head coach, Joe Judge, hails from the Patriots and declined to name any starters — or even mention Jones by name, for that matter — at the Combine this week. From Brady’s perspective, meanwhile, you won’t find many markets bigger than New York or many franchises as historic as the Giants. It’d also mark for a headlining, if ironic, close to Brady’s career, allowing him a chance to win another title with the one team that stopped him from winning at least two more.
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