Tom Brady reportedly were interested in the Colts, but the Colts ultimately weren’t interested in Brady.
The Colts nevertheless did plenty og homework on the greatest quarterback in NFL history.
“I will tell you that I looked at his tape,” Colts coach Frank Reich said Tuesday regarding Brady, via Kevin Hickey of USA Today. “The guy is incredible. I mean, I watched all of his tape from the last two years. I think he’s still playing at a super, super high level. We know he’s the best of all time for a reason [with] as many championships as he’s won. I mean, he still threw a couple balls in games, I’m saying, ‘How’s this guy throwing this ball this far?’ He’s incredible.”
So why didn’t they offer him the same one-year, $25 million deal they offered to Philip Rivers? As previously noted, the Colts were looking for a one-year bridge quarterback; Brady presumably wanted something longer than that. Also, the Colts may have wondered whether Brady’s interest was legitimate. He could have been hoping that the Colts sniff around Brady just enough to wake up the Patriots, who may have decided to do whatever they had to do to keep Brady from the #DeflateGate-instigating Colts.
“I have the utmost respect for [Brady] as a player and competitor,” Reich said. “For us, we got the guy we thought was the right fit for us, but this is a guy who I respect and admire immensely, obviously along with everybody else.”
When comparing what Brady does in Tampa with what Jarrett Stidham (or whoever) does in New England, it will make sense to compare Brady to Rivers, too. It’s entirely possible that the Colts or the Patriots or the Bucs made a bad decision.