Schefter: Tom Brady Still Hasn't Committed To Playing In 2018
BOSTON (CBS) -- The offseason headaches continue for New England Patriots fans.
Tom Brady is not at Gillette Stadium for the start of New England's offseason program, and now ESPN's Adam Schefter is reporting that the quarterback still hasn't committed to playing in 2018.
Schefter adds that sources believe Brady will indeed play football next season, but without any official word from the player (either publicly or privately), it's not a definite.
"My money would be on him playing football for the foreseeable future, but what goes on away from the football field, I don't know," a source told Schefter. "I don't know."
"I believe he's going to be there," another person who knows Brady told Schefter. "However, having said that, we're dealing with a human being. Things can change. But I do believe he will be playing."
Brady's wife, Gisele Bundchen, has made it clear that she'd like her husband to retire, but Brady, who will turn 41 in August, has said in the past that he'd like to play until he's 45. He certainly hasn't lost a step as he enters the final stages of his career, winning his third NFL MVP last season and throwing for a record 505 yards in New England's Super Bowl LII loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Brady said ahead in the days leading up to that loss that he would be back in 2018:
But he's also made it clear that he would like to spend more time with his family, and with reports of a growing quarrel between Brady and Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, it seems like an early retirement could be an actual possibility for Brady. It's tough not think he may be considering calling it a career when listening to the end of his "Tom vs. Time" docuseries, which was released following Super Bowl LII.
"I'm sitting here three days after the year getting my Achilles worked on and my thumb and you go, 'What are we doing this for? What are we doing this for? Who are we doing this for? Why are we doing this?,'" said Brady. "You have to have answers for those questions and they have to be with a lot of conviction. When you lose your conviction you probably should be doing something else."
After last season's trade of backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, veteran Brian Hoyer is the only other quarterback currently on the New England roster. Given Brady's age, and now the uncertainty of his future, it remains extremely likely the Patriots will take a quarterback during next week's NFL Draft.
