{"id":21616,"date":"2017-06-04T11:43:20","date_gmt":"2017-06-04T15:43:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=21616"},"modified":"2017-06-05T13:03:48","modified_gmt":"2017-06-05T17:03:48","slug":"tom-brady-conspiracy-theory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2017\/06\/04\/tom-brady-conspiracy-theory\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Brady Conspiracy Theory"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Before we dig into this theory the obvious needs to be stated. Doubting <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/B\/BradTo00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tom Brady<\/a><\/strong> is one of the worst bets in sports history. In this writer&#8217;s opinion, he is the greatest quarterback of all-time, and anything he does from here is icing on the cake. With that said, the cake may be made, the icing is on and the 2017 season\u00a0could be the last that Tom Brady plays.<\/p>\n<h2>Tom Brady Conspiracy Theory<\/h2>\n<h3>The Patriots did not trade <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/G\/GaroJi00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jimmy Garoppolo<\/a> this off-season<\/h3>\n<p>Rumors are not always true. However, the rumors that surfaced around the inflated price of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/G\/GaroJi00.htm\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Jimmy Garoppolo<\/strong> <\/a>got borderline ridiculous this off-season. By the time of the draft, one thing was clear, Garoppolo was not going anywhere.<\/p>\n<p>The interesting tangent to this is that\u00a0the former\u00a0Eastern Illinois signal caller\u00a0will be an unrestricted free agent after the 2017 season. If the Patriots; the team every other organization is supposed to mimic are throwing this outlandish price tag for a backup quarterback they must know something. If every team knows the Patriots know something about Garoppolo and what he will be, how much would he get monetarily on an open market? If Garoppolo is smart, he\u00a0will make the Patriots pay him to keep him\u00a0in New England after his rookie contract is up.<\/p>\n<h3>Brady\u2019s salary<\/h3>\n<p>The Patriots spent a lot of money this off-season. The reason they had more cap space than\u00a0usual had to do with the fact that Brady is on the cap for just $14 million this year. So while <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/C\/CousKi00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kirk Cousins<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/C\/CousKi00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">,<\/a><\/span> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/R\/RoetBe00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Ben Roethlisberger<\/strong><\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=SmitAl03,SmitAl02&amp;search=Alex+Smith&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Alex Smith<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0have cap hits of\u00a0$24 million, $22 million, and\u00a0$17 million, respectively,\u00a0the Patriots get that difference in space, plus the superior\u00a0quarterback.<\/p>\n<p>However, for the next two seasons,\u00a0Brady&#8217;s contract will spike to $22 million against the cap. The\u00a0Patriots had cap money this off-season\u00a0and they\u00a0will not have as much next season. Sure, the Patriots could move on from free agents <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/B\/ButlMa01.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Malcolm Butler<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/S\/SoldNa00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nate Solder<\/a><\/strong> next year, however, Solder would be a huge loss. Are they really going to pay two quarterbacks starter-caliber money instead of a left tackle?<\/p>\n<p>If cut, Brady\u2019s cap hit drops all the way to $14 million in 2018, and $7 million\u00a0the year after, a savings of $20 million for the Patriots in the long run. They are now less committed to Brady and less equipped to replace <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/H\/HighDo01.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dont&#8217;a Hightower<\/a><\/strong>, Nate Solder, and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/G\/GilmSt00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stephon Gilmore<\/a><\/strong> as they are the Hall of Fame quarterback.<\/p>\n<h3>Gisele<\/h3>\n<p>Then, there is\u00a0Brady&#8217;s wife, Gisele Bundchen. First, it might be easier\u00a0for Brady to\u00a0step away from the game when\u00a0his wife is making more money than he is\u00a0doing a seemingly easier job. That shouldn&#8217;t be disrespectful to\u00a0Brady or his wife. It just\u00a0helps to illustrate that Brady doesn&#8217;t have to keep playing to make money. It also proves why he would not mind playing for $14 million (which allows the Pats to add Gilmore and sign Hightower) rather than cashing in for all he is worth.<\/p>\n<p>On top of the monetary aspect, his wife has <a href=\"http:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2017\/05\/17\/sport\/gisele-bundchen-tom-brady-concussion\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">struck headlines<\/a> this off-season talking about his past history with concussions. The first thought is that this is not good for the health of Brady. His wife is clearly concerned, and this can easily be a determining factor in how much longer he will play. The second thought is that the NFL does not want to hear this. The NFL&#8217;s commissioner is dictator <strong>Roger Goodell<\/strong>. This is the same Goodell who has already\u00a0lost a judicial battle with Brady <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/2016\/07\/13\/tom-brady-suspended-deflategate-appeal-supreme-court\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">once<\/a> and is consistently battling the debate involving <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/2016\/05\/23\/roger-goodell-deflategate-nfl-concussion-research\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">concussions<\/a>.\u00a0While this is no way implying that he will have any say in pushing Brady out, we are untucking all corners on this one. It\u00a0may be better for\u00a0Brady&#8217;s health and the health of the league\u00a0for\u00a0the\u00a0future Hall of Fame quarterback to\u00a0move on.<\/p>\n<h3>Brady\u2019s mom<\/h3>\n<p>One of the more heartfelt stories of the past Super Bowl was Brady winning with his mother in attendance for the first time all season. She had been dealing with a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nfl\/news\/super-bowl-li-tom-bradys-reportedly-ill-mother-made-the-trip-to-houston\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">major illness<\/a>\u00a0and did not have the power or ability to make it to\u00a0any other games during the 2016\u00a0season. Brady posted a nice <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nfl\/news\/look-heres-the-sweet-note-that-tom-brady-wrote-his-mom-on-mothers-day\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">message<\/a> about his mother and his family on Mother\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n<h3>What more does he want?<\/h3>\n<p>After such an inspirational win against the Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl, what else is there for him to do? He won as a young up and comer. He won post Spygate. He won post deflate-gate. He won for his mother and his family in the greatest comeback of all-time. Tom Brady now has\u00a0the financial security, all-time great status, and a family and off-field life pushing him move on.<\/p>\n<p>Their team is all in to go back to and win another Super Bowl win next season.\u00a0It has the chance to\u00a0be an impressive season that makes even the strongest doubters believe in the legend as Brady rides into the sunset. Or, this could just be the\u00a0wishes of a crazy football fan of another team grasping at straws.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/688457476\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 67.003367% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"margin: 0px; left: 0px; top: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; display: inline-block; position: absolute;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/688457476?et=G_2f5RdXSSRQRRiZ3DZjxA&amp;tld=com&amp;viewMoreLink=off&amp;sig=BlMAEKdnd9MttyMYtsepoARv9hM6lW-IZ7OKSHuZlcw=&amp;caption=true\" width=\"594\" height=\"398\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin: 0;\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tom Brady Conspiracy Theory. This could be the last season that Tom Brady plays in. Here is why.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1215,"featured_media":21622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2],"tags":[401,331],"class_list":["post-21616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-patriots","category-featured","tag-jimmy-garoppolo","tag-tom-brady"],"modified_by":"Parker Hurley, Team Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1215"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}