Tag Archives: Brady
Seahawks Leaning Towards Signing Brady Quinn As Backup QB
The Seahawks continue to look for a backup QB, and Monday had a four-quarterback tryout among Brady Quinn, Seneca Wallace, Matt Leinart and Tyler Thigpen.
Apparently the Seahawks were most impressed with Quinn.
Ed Werder of ESPN reports the Seahawks are trying to sign Quinn as Russell Wilson’s backup. Quinn has been with the Browns, Broncos, and Chiefs in his rather non-eventful NFL career.
Brady Quinn agrees to terms with the Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks have found a possible backup quarterback, announcing on Tuesday night that they have agreed to terms with former first-round pick Brady Quinn.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Quinn entered the NFL with the Cleveland Browns, who selected the former Notre Dame standout with the 22nd overall pick of the 2007 NFL draft. In 24 career games with the Browns, Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs, Quinn has completed 296-of-550 pass attempts for 3,043 yards with 12 touchdowns and 17 interceptions for a passer rating of 64.4.
The 6-foot-3, 235-pound Quinn started eight games for the 2012 Chiefs, his first game action since the 2009 season. Quinn completed 58.5 percent of his pass attempts for 1,141 yards with two touchdowns and eight interceptions as the Chiefs ranked 32nd in the NFL in passing offense.
Quinn was among four quarterbacks to audition for the Seahawks on Monday. Joining him in the competition were Matt Leinart, a 2006 first-round pick who played for Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll at USC. Former Seahawks quarterback Seneca Wallace also worked out on Monday as did Tyler Thigpen, an athletic quarterback who ran the option offense at Coastal Carolina who appeared to be a logical fit as the understudy to Russell Wilson in a Seahawks offense that utilizes the read-option.
The Seahawks had an opening behind Wilson after trading Matt Flynn (and the two years and $ 11.5 million that remained on his contract) to the Oakland Raiders. Seattle re-signed Josh Portis, their No. 3 quarterback in 2011 who was pushed off the roster in 2012 and was most recently with the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts.
Wes Welker agrees to terms with the Denver Broncos, leaving Tom Brady with a lot of questions
The chess match between receiver Wes Welker and the New England Patriots is officially over. As Albert Breer of the NFL Network reports, the Denver Broncos have signed Welker to a two-year, $ 12 million deal after the Patriots refused to match it. According to Breer, the Patriots’ final offer was for $ 10 million over two years, with incentives.
The Pats tried lowballing their leading receiver before the 2012 season, only to place the franchise tag on him as a simple $ 9.5 million, one-year stopgap. Now, it would seem that Bill Belichick set the bar far lower than Welker would like. In the end, New England replaced Welker with former St. Louis Rams receiver Danny Amendola, a younger, more injury-prone version of their established star. If Amendola can stay healthy, it might be a net gain, but that’s yet to be seen.
Far be it for us to question Belichick’s football acumen, but we’re not too sure about this, especially when Tom Brady re-did his contract to a more cap-friendly version, and Welker is by far his favorite and most reliable receiver. Brady might see this as a mild slap in the face. In fact, a source close to Brady told Tom Curran of Comcast SportsNet New England that Brady is “enraged” about losing Welker.
[Also: Lions reach four-year deal with running back Reggie Bush]
Welker will be 32 years old in May, but his skills takes on age better than most receivers. He’s predominantly a yards-after-catch guy who takes passes from at or behind the line of scrimmage and makes his bones from there. In addition, there’s nobody better in the league at running option routes, and no team’s playbook has more option routes than New England’s. From Chad Jackson to Joey Galloway to Chad Ochocinco, we’ve all seen what happens when a receiver runs the wrong route on Brady just once: He gets the Brady Death Stare, and then, he enters the Witness Protection Program, never to be seen again.
“I have to trust in Deion [Branch] and Wes [Welker] and all those guys out there to be in the right spot so I can play fast and anticipate what they’re doing,” Brady told the media last June, right around the time Ochocinco got his walking papers and subsequently headed to Miami. “If everyone is not on the same page, it doesn’t work. A lot of what these practices are about is everybody getting on the same page. You have a lot of new guys from other teams, rookies. The faster we can get up to speed and get better as a unit, the better we’re going to be.”
It’s a bigger deal than people think. In one Patriots playbook I’ve seen (the 2004 version), there were 25 different single receiver routes, and that doesn’t count all the available options. Nor does it cover where those routes are run in a split on the field, or how the receivers run routes in tandem. There were 17 different two-man route combos in the playbook I saw, and five different three-man route combos. Once you’ve mastered all that stuff, there’s then the matter of the call in any pass play — the name of the route group that a team decides on any pass play for anywhere from one to five receivers. Add in the protection at the line, and you have the start of what will be an eventual Patriots play call.
Welker tried to be the consummate pro through this, but everyone has their limits.
“Your mindset is just to kind of dig deep, understand the situation, and just go out there and play to the best of your ability whenever you get the opportunity,” Welker told me last October, when his snap counts were going up week by week. “Once you get the opportunity, you make the most of it. I’ve tried to do that, and just tried to help the team win. Whatever I need to do to do that, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Welker has 672 regular-season receptions in his six years in New England, 80 more catches than any other receiver over that time. Yes, a lot of those catches are quick screens and slants, but how do you replace that kind of production?
[Top 50 free agents: Several big names off the board | Latest signings]
Now that the Pats have cut Welker loose, and as he finds the bloom on another rose elsewhere, Belichick will have a lot of questions to answer about it. And they’ll most likely start from his quarterback.
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Deal For Brady Has No Impact On Flacco’s Deal Says Agent
Tom Brady’s new contract will not have an effect on the Ravens contract negotiations with Joe Flacco, Richard Klemko of USA Today reports.
“There’s no impact whatsoever on what we’re doing,” Joe Linta, Flacco’s agent, said. “It doesn’t matter. It’s an extension for cap purposes. And we don’t know all the details at this point.
“The bottom line is, whether Brady took a pay cut or took $ 27 million a year, it wouldn’t have an impact on what we’re doing. We’ve determined a number that we think is fair with respect for the Ravens’ cap situation.”
Linta met with Baltimore’s brass during the scouting combine in Indianapolis with hopes of striking a new deal for his client on the heels of Flacco’s Super Bowl MVP performance vs. the San Francisco 49ers earlier this month. The Ravens have until March 4 to use either the exclusive or non-exclusive versions of the franchise tag on the quarterback.
Linta says negotiations are “going fine” with no new meeting on the schedule. For now.
“Nobody yelled,” he says of the combine talks. “We’re moving forward. This thing could be done in three minutes or three years.”
The Ravens have several pending free agents beyond Flacco, including defensive lynchpins Ed Reed, Paul Kruger and Dannell Ellerbe. Linta says Flacco, 28, doesn’t wish to weaken the roster with a new contract.
“Joe’s not that kind of guy,” Linta says. “Joe absolutely wants to work with the Ravens to ensure that they’re not impacted cap-wise. Joe doesn’t want to see anybody get cut as a result of this deal.”
QB Tom Brady Inks Three-Year Deal Worth $27 Million With Patriots
The Patriots have helped out their salary cap, and at the same time basically inked their future Hall of Fame QB – Tom Brady, to a deal that will keep him a Patriot for life.
Today Brady inked a three-year deal with the Patriots worth $ 27 million that will have him in New England through 2017.
Adam Schefter, Brian Dawkins and Tim Hasselbeck discuss Brady’s extension.
Patriots, Tom Brady agree to three-year, $27 million contract extension
The New England Patriots and quarterback Tom Brady have agreed to a three-year contract extension that should keep the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player under contract at a team-friendly rate for the remainder of his career, Peter King of Sports Illustrated reports.
Brady was under contract through the 2014 season with base salaries of $ 9.75 million and a $ 5 million roster bonuses in each season. Brady’s cap number in 2013 and 2014 were scheduled to be an astronomical $ 21.8 million in each season. As Shutdown Corner noted in our offseason TPS report for the Patriots, an extension through the 2017 season would help reduce that cap figure in 2013 and ensure that Brady is a Patriot until he is 40, an age Brady has said he’d like to reach in his playing career.
[More NFL: Jerry Jones wants credit as team-builder when Cowboys win Super Bowl]
According to King, the Patriots have reduced Brady’s cap number to $ 13.8 million in 2013 and $ 14.8 million in 2014, a two-year cap savings of $ 15 million. In addition to helping the Patriots’ salary cap situation in the short-term, Brady’s extension goes easy on the Patriots in the cash department in the backend. In terms of new money, Brady will earn $ 27 million, a $ 9 million per year average that ranks below what quarterbacks Kevin Kolb and Ryan Fitzpatrick have received in their recent extensions.
Brady equaled a career-high with 401 completions on a career-high 637 pass attempts for 4,827 yards with 34 touchdowns and just eight interceptions, finishing the season with a passer rating of 98.7. Brady was named to eighth Pro Bowl after the season, his fourth Pro Bowl selection since sustaining a torn ACL in the 2008 season-opener against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The 35-year-old Brady has already set all of the Patriots’ passing records and the future Hall of Famer is in the Top 10 in the NFL record books, as well. Brady is nine touchdown passes away from moving past Fran Tarkenton into sole possession of fourth place on the NFL’s passing touchdowns list.
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Tom Brady fined $10,000 for kick on Ed Reed … or, less than Frank Gore got fined for low socks
For those who think quarterbacks get preferential treatment by the NFL, this news will cause an bit of a stir.
NFL.com has reported that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has been fined $ 10,000 for going all Daniel-san/Ty Cobb on Ravens safety Ed Reed and kicking his cleats into Reed’s leg at the end of a run.
This news came a few hours after it was reported San Francisco running back Frank Gore was fined $ 10,500 for wearing his socks too low in the NFC championship game.
So let’s review. Brady went in with a dangerous slide to Reed (and, even if you want to argue the “dangerous” part of that statement, let’s all agree it was more dangerous than a player not having his socks up by his knees), and he’s fined less than Gore for a sock violation.
The league is under a ton of heat for possibly looking the other way on player safety for years, and this doesn’t really help matters. Ravens safety Bernard Pollard brought up the double standard in the NFL for quarterbacks and though Brady should be punished, and it will be interesting if he and other defensive players think this is a fair punishment.
Brady apologized to Reed after the game, Reed said, and the NFL obviously found it to be a bad enough foul to fine Brady. What if the roles were reversed and Reed had went in feet up and kicked a quarterback?
For those who think quarterbacks are treated differently by the NFL, the answer will be pretty easy.
Position statement: Is Tom Brady past his prime?
Could Tom Brady be in for the same fate as Drew Bledsoe? After taking over for Bledsoe midway through the 2001 season Brady never surrendered the Patriots’ starting job. Mike Florio isn’t proposing a question of retirement, but rather, if Brady wants to continue playing longer than the Patriots believe he’s their best option. At what point must fans envision life without Brady under center?
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Tom Brady tries to run upfield and gets tackled by official, summing up his day (VIDEO)
Tom Brady probably should have known it wasn’t his day when he tried to run upfield against the Ravens and got tackled by an official.
The first play after the two-minute warning of the first half in the AFC championship game, the Patriots’ quarterback eluded the rush and got past the line of scrimmage. He had plenty of field in front of him, but needed to avoid linebacker Ray Lewis. That’s not an easy task, and it’s much more difficult when the umpire knocks you over.
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Brady ran left, but umpire Chad Brown anticipated him going right. So while Brown was trying to run away, he couldn’t get out of the way fast enough for Brady. Brady ran right into Brown’s back and fell to the ground, giving Lewis the easy tackle. The Patriots picked up the first down after that unexpected tackle by the umpire, and Brady was unlikely to pull a Colin Kaepernick and outrun the Ravens to the end zone, but it was still a funny play that ended up being a microcosm of Brady’s day.
Sunday ended up being another disappointing big game loss for Brady and the Patriots. There’s no shame in winning 10 or more games every year and losing in the small sample size of the one-and-done NFL playoffs, but the frustrations have to be mounting for Brady, who couldn’t lead the Patriots to any points in the second half as the Ravens advanced to the Super Bowl with a 28-13 win.
Brady has had better days, and he’s had better moments than getting upended by an official in the open field.
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Championship Sunday LVPs: Tom Brady finishes season with a heartbreaking playoff loss … again
Tom Brady’s legacy: A quarterback’s win-loss record, especially in a relatively small amount of playoff games, is nowhere near an accurate measure of a player’s career. We all know that, right? Good.
Still, we see Patriots quarterback Tom Brady trudging off the field Sunday after another disappointing loss deep in the playoffs and are reminded that this is becoming an annual ritual.
Brady started his career winning his first 10 playoff games, including three Super Bowls. He hasn’t won a Super Bowl since. Most quarterbacks would be proud to say their last Super Bowl came at the end of the 2004 season and they’ve been contenders just about every year since, but Brady has been chasing something larger since that great start to his career.
Brady didn’t have a bad game against the Ravens, but he wasn’t great either. He threw a couple of second-half interceptions and the Patriots were shut out after halftime. The Patriots didn’t have tight end Rob Gronkowski and running back Stevan Ridley was knocked out of the game early in the fourth quarter, but there’s still way too much talent on New England’s side to not get any points in a half of football at home.
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Brady is 7-7 in the playoffs since that 10-0 start. He didn’t have more than one interception in any playoff game during that 10-win streak; he has six multiple-interception games since then, including Sunday. Brady is still one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time – maybe the best ever. Most quarterbacks don’t get the chance to get beat deep in the playoffs every year, because they’re not consistent enough to get their teams that far that often. But over the last eight seasons Brady’s playoff disappointments have piled up and are overshadowing his great playoff moments.
Bill Belichick: Forget the CBS postgame blow-off that didn’t show a ton of class. This wasn’t Belichick’s finest day as a head coach well before he said he couldn’t talk to the network after the game.
The man who famously went for it on fourth and short from his own territory at Indianapolis years ago suddenly went conservative with a Super Bowl trip on the line. Three times Belichick called for a punt from Ravens territory, a no-risk move that offered very little reward. The first time, New England had fourth and 9 at the Baltimore 35, a no-man’s land type of decision that is tough for a coach. The Patriots punted.
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On New England’s next drive it punted despite having fourth and 2 at the Baltimore 45 and an offense that led the NFL in yards and points per game – both by a large margin. Baltimore scored a touchdown after that punt.
In the third quarter, New England had a fourth and 8 at Baltimore’s 34. That’s another tough call, and a field goal wasn’t a great option because of windy conditions. The Patriots punted. The Ravens scored a touchdown after that punt.
None of those decisions are heinous, but it has never been Belichick’s style to play it so safe. Instead of trying to win with future hall-of-fame quarterback Brady, he played not to lose with punter Zoltan Mesko. Belichick also had the odd indecision and mismanagement of the clock that cost the Patriots a shot at the end zone before it kicked a field goal to finish the first half. And the Brady win-loss stats from above? They apply to to the coach too, of course. Belichick has had many great days in a legendary career, but this wasn’t one.
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David Akers: After yet another missed field goal, how can the 49ers go into the Super Bowl with any confidence in Akers as their kicker? Or, a better question, will Akers be San Francisco’s kicker against Baltimore in two weeks?
Dumping Akers as the longtime veteran hopes to get his first Super Bowl win would be a difficult decision, but it has to be on the 49ers’ minds. Akers missed his only attempt in the NFC championship game, clanging a 38-yard attempt – in a dome with no wind or weather concerns – off the left upright. That was Akers’ 14th missed field goal this season.
The 49ers brought in veteran kicker Billy Cundiff before last week’s game, but ultimately decided to stick with Akers. Going into the Super Bowl, the 49ers are likely to consider all options. And if the 49ers have slumping Akers kick in the Super Bowl, how could they feel confident sending him out in a key moment?
Stevan Ridley: There isn’t much Ridley could have done on a hit by Bernard Pollard that 
seemed to momentarily knock him cold and cause a fumble. But Ridley is getting a pretty bad reputation for putting the ball on the ground.
Ridley got into the doghouse last year after fumbling in the playoffs against Denver. Ridley had a fantastic 1,263-yard regular season in 2012, but he also had big fumbles against the Broncos and 49ers. And the fumble against Baltimore was one of the turning points of the Patriots’ loss to the Ravens. Baltimore scored a touchdown after Ridley’s fumble to turn a 21-13 lead into a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter. Belichick is known to have a long memory. While it’s tough to blame Ridley for dropping the ball after that vicious hit, hopefully he can rebound next season and avoid getting labeled as a fumbler.
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Matt Ryan … for one play: Without Ryan, the Falcons wouldn’t have come so close to making the Super Bowl. He threw for 396 yards against a tough 49ers defense and was great for most of the day. But he had one play that will play in his mind over and over this offseason.
Late in the third quarter, one series after he threw an interception, Ryan guided the Falcons to the 49ers’ 28-yard line. The Falcons led 24-21 and needed a larger cushion because San Francisco was charging hard. But Ryan was rattled by the 49ers blitz, before he even got the ball. On a good shotgun snap, Ryan simply dropped the ball. Aldon Smith got to the fumble at the same time as Ryan and got the ball away from him for a momentum-changing turnover. Ryan was very, very good on Sunday, but that’s one play he’ll wish he could have back, a feeling he won’t have a chance to put behind him until next September.
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