Super Bowl LI will be Tom Brady's seventh big game as the quarterback of the New England Patriots.
Don't bet on it being his last.
Despite suiting up against the Atlanta Falcons at the age of 39--the same age Peyton Manning was last year in his final game--Brady reportedly isn't thinking about hanging up his cleats anytime soon. In fact, the 17-year veteran and the Patriots may engage on talks of a contract extension soon.
The reason for re-doing a deal that takes Brady through the 2019 season? The four-time Super Bowl champion could play up to five more full seasons, per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network.
In their long-term planning, #Patriots believe QB Tom Brady will play 3-5 more years, sources say. That's why trading Jimmy G is possible.
-- Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 5, 2017
Five more seasons would take Brady through his age-44 season, giving him ample time to re-write the record books and leave no doubt about the G.O.A.T (greatest of all time) status among quarterbacks. While it's logical to assume Brady's play will fall off sooner than later, we're talking about a quarterback that just finished second--to Atlanta's Matt Ryan--in MVP voting and posted a 28-2 TD-INT mark.
Heading into Super Bowl LI, Brady owned four Super Bowl rings, two NFL MVP awards, over 61,000 passing yards, 183 regular-season wins and 456 touchdowns.
Brady the best QB ever?
Even if the Patriots don't qualify for another Super Bowl, five more regular seasons would likely put Brady atop the all-time record books for wins, yards and touchdowns.
According to the report, Brady's long-term plans and future adds to the rumors of New England shopping and trading back-up Jimmy Garoppolo this offseason when the league year begins.
Joe Giglio may be reached at jgiglio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeGiglioSports. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
