Just recently, the New England Patriots extended the contract of the Super Bowl LIII MVP Julian Edelman. Being one of the team's key offensive players, the team's move is strategic and wise. Following the news of Edelman's extension with the Patriots, sports analysts and critics have various speculations. One of these is that Tom Brady is going to be the next to get an extension.
According to sportswriter Ryan Hannable, Julian Edelman and Tom Brady have the best connection among all Patriots' players. Both athletes have worked hard together for the last 10 seasons and have the best chemistry of any wide-quarterback receiver duo in the league. Julian Edelman has been consistently there for Tom Brady through the years, Hannable said.
Following the recent news of Julian Edelman's two-year extension with the team, the first idea that usually comes to mind is that Tom Brady is going to be next. Currently, the quarterback is signed until the end of the season. But, Hannable believes that Edelman would not sign an extension if he did not believe that Tom Brady would be his quarterback for the next season considering that the next two years would be the final years of his career.
The sportswriter further stated that the two superstars are very close and even work out together. He suspected that Edelman is one of the few persons to know what is happening in Brady's life. Regardless of Brady's additional incentives added into his deal in August of last year, he can still extend his contract. And, because he was not able to reach those incentives, the deal can be made again within the calendar year, says Hannable.
Most likely, Tom Brady's extension with the New England Patriots has already been worked out between him and the team's owner Robert Kraft. But, given Kraft's on-going legal case, it is possible that the two parties have not had the time to sit down and iron things out. Even without the announcement happening yet, both parties have still until the beginning of the season and until the end of the season.
One of the reasons why the Patriots get this done in a short span of time is for them to free up cap space for the upcoming season. At present, the New England Patriots have below $4 million in terms of cap space and Tom Brady has a cap hit of around $27 million. if the team extends Brady's contract, it can stretch the numbers over the next several years and make it more manageable in the 2019 season.
