Stunning as it may be, the decision of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady to stay away from Organized Team Activities isn’t really surprising. But the specific reason for his absence still isn’t known. There could be several.
Regardless, he’s not present for the critical third phase of the offseason program, which as Brady himself said five years ago lays the foundation for training camp, which in turn lays the foundation for the regular season, and so on.
In an effort to understand the situation, we invited Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston to join Wednesday’s PFT Live. From Curran’s perspective, Brady’s concerns arise in part from Belichick fatigue, and possibly also from the fact that Brady is earning peanuts in relation to other quarterbacks.
Curran agreed with the notion that Brady likely believes he shouldn’t have to ask for a raise. But Curran also said it’s possible Belichick is reluctant to give a significant increase to Brady, given how close he may be to the end of the line. And he may be even closer; Belichick surely isn’t happy with Brady’s decision to boycott OTAs, which will only make Belichick more determined to find his next potential franchise quarterback.