The Advance Scout | HoustonProFootball.com 
October 22, 2001
Will The Texans Become Brady’s Bunch?
by Keith Weiland
HoustonProFootball.com
Something is brewing near Boston Harbor these days, and it’s a far cry from a tea party. Tom Brady, the New England Patriots’ backup quarterback, filling in for the injured Drew Bledsoe, has percolated the interests of the local citizenry with his stunning play through the last four games, leading the team to a 3-1 record, including a well-executed win over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
Boston, a town known for its ability to debate hot topics, is having a hard time deciding which way to take its good fortune. The lowly Patriots, after waiving Michael Bishop in August, declared Brady as their backup in favor of Damon Huard before the season started. Once the season ends, they are going to be faced with another, even tougher, personnel decision. Should they keep incumbent Drew Bledsoe, a player their owner Bob Kraft signed to be the highest paid player in the NFL, or should they take a shot and bill Brady as their man? It’s unlikely they keep both of them when there are so many other teams, notably our new one down in Houston, that need a capable young gunslinger.
Well, first things first. Who is Tom Brady and where did he come from? It’s easy to forget about the middle man in the recent University of Michigan trio of quarterbacking prospects. For starters, he followed in the footsteps of Brian Griese, fresh off a National Championship season. It can be pretty tough to live up to expectations after a season like Griese and the Wolverines had in 1997. Then, after Coach Lloyd Carr named Brady the starter prior to the ’98 season, Brady had to fight off the wunderkind — and early contender for the Texans’ first ever pick before signing with the New York Yankees — Drew Henson. Think of Tom Brady as the passed over Jan to Griese’s Marcia and Henson’s Cindy.
Griese! Griese! Griese!
Middle child syndrome aside, Brady, who like Henson possesses baseball skills (the Montreal Expos selected him as a catcher in 1995), entered the 2000 NFL draft with favorable comparisons to Marcia, I mean Griese, and was projected as high as a third rounder. Passed over several times, the Patriots thought they had a steal nabbing Brady late in the sixth round, despite already having three quarterbacks on their roster.
Brady, who is 6’4" and just 24 years old, came out of the ’99 season at a skinny 195 pounds. Scouts noted he lacked mobility, had a decent, but not great arm, and might just be a product of the system Michigan employed. Keep in mind, the jury was still out on Griese before the 2000 NFL season. Brady has since added some bulk and is now up to 220 pounds. He is still a traditional pocket passer, but one that has a knack for handling big game situations. He is accurate and makes good decisions with the football, as evidenced by the fact that he has yet to throw an interception in an NFL game, preseason included.
Most importantly, Brady has a knack for handling big game situations. Brady has engineered two upset victories over the Colts this season, and he led the Pats to an overtime win over the reawakened Chargers. Playing in front of NFL crowds of 65,000 fans is nothing compared to the more than 110,000 that flocked to watch him as a Wolverine in Ann Arbor.
The Patriots meanwhile have their franchise quarterback already, but they may have serious health concerns with him. Drew Bledsoe was hospitalized after a Week Two hit from Jets linebacker Mo Lewis. After rumors were dispelled that he had a ruptured spleen or punctured lung, it was determined that Bledsoe had "sheared" a blood vessel in his chest that caused massive internal bleeding.
Bledsoe, perhaps spurred by the emergence of Brady, is on the road to recovery. The injury did not require surgery, and it is basically healing on its own. He was even cleared by doctors to travel with the team for their game with the Colts this past weekend. Still, the man had a tube coming out of his chest, so the Pats are going to keep a close eye on him before making a move with Brady.
Despite the legitimate need for contending NFL teams to keep two good quarterbacks on their rosters, it does not seem likely that the Patriots will keep both Bledsoe and Brady beyond 2002 for financial reasons. Bledsoe, still only 29 years old, just signed a ten-year contract extension worth a reported $103 million dollars, so one would have to think that the Pats want to keep this guy around if he is healthy. Somewhat surprisingly, a few fickle Patriot fans, already enamored with Brady, have even floated the notion of letting Bledsoe become available in February’s expansion draft, hoping to remove the albatross of his salary for more cap room.
Brady is still in the middle of his rookie contract – he and his agent declined the Pats offer before the season to renegotiate – and will not be a restricted free agent until after the 2002 season. If the Texans sign Brady as an RFA, then they would be obligated to hand over compensatory picks to New England, including a possible first- and third-rounder if the bidding escalates. Fat chance of that ever happening, but Brady does not become an unrestricted free agent until after the 2003 campaign. At first glance then it may seem that the Texans have no shot at him.
Not true.
The Patriots may conclude that they do not want to tie up any more money than absolutely necessary in a backup quarterback. If so, then they may be looking to trade Brady next spring for whatever value they can get, avoiding the risk of losing him for nothing as a UFA. Even if Brady can’t keep up this pace for the remainder of 2001, the Texans should be looking to barter with the Patriots before the clock winds down on their first overall pick next April. In the meantime, the question becomes how much Houston will need to give up to have Brady on their roster during their inaugural season.
Fortunately, recent history has seen a swing in the trade value for backups. In 1998, the Jacksonville Jaguars were able to dupe the Buffalo Bills into giving up first- and fourth-round picks for Rob Johnson, who had previously filled in for the injured Mark Brunell. The hangover from that trade may have been why the Green Bay Packers were only able to unload Brett Favre’s backup, Matt Hasselbeck, to the Seahawks for the opportunity to move up just seven picks in the first round of last spring’s draft.
Brady’s earlier performances against the Colts and Chargers have likely captured the imagination of Charley Casserly and the Texans. Regardless of who New England’s quarterback is throughout the 2001 season, they are still a sorry team and will own a top ten pick in next year’s draft. Without a bankable prospect in the college ranks, it is a viable solution to trade a few spots down to acquire Brady and still take a quality player early in the first round.
Keith Weiland would like it known that he really doesn’t know all that much about The Brady Bunch, but wants to remind readers what mom always says: Don’t play ball in the house! 
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