Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - What-If Wednesday: PodVader’s Patriots Wisdom - 2/5/2020

Episode Date: February 5, 2020

The 2019 NFL Season did not end as Patriots Nation had hoped. However, things might have been different. On this What-If Wednesday, host Mike D’Abate is joined by the PodVader himself, Jay Soderberg to discuss what might have been different in 2019, and the unthinkable “What If” surrounding Tom Brady. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful, and welcome to your What If Wednesday episode of Lockdown Patriots, your daily home for news notes and analysis infused with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. Today's episode is a little bit of a departure from what you're used to on a Wednesday. Here on the Lockdown Podcast Network, we have become accustomed to doing a crossover episode. And my guest today is our executive producers and also a very good member of the Patriots Nation. So in that regard, I didn't think it was too much of a crossover.

It's really more of a homecoming, so to speak. But this man definitely has an insight that I respect and an insight that is usually spot on. So I'm going to take advantage of that today and we're going to have a What If Wednesday episode here on Locked On Patriots. So without further ado, I would like to introduce my guest today, who is our fearless leader here at the Locked On Podcast Network. When it comes to content direction, he is the executive producer of Locked On Podcasts and one of the most trusted voices when it comes to matters surrounding your New England Patriots. Pat's fans, he's also not afraid to explore the dark side. And yes, that pun is intended. Today, my guest is the incomparable Jay Soderbergh.

Welcome back to Locked On Patriots, Podvator. Mike, thanks for having me. But I have to admit, last time I was a guest on the show, I said I did not abuse my powers. This time, 100% abuse of my powers. It's the ability to come back to the Boston area, which I love. It's near and dear to my heart. And yeah, this is going to be fun. It absolutely is.

And it's great to actually be here in person with you and be able to share the microphone. Quite literally, I can actually say that now. We're actually sharing the microphone right now. And it definitely is a great thing to have you here. And there's a lot to talk about in Patriots Nation. And as I said earlier, today is a little bit of a departure from the crossovers that we're used to and a what if. But first, I'm going to pick your brain on three years ago today, February 5th, 2017, Super Bowl 51, Houston, Texas. Take me back to your feelings on that game.

What were you thinking at halftime? And was there a part of you that believed that what we were about to see could possibly unfold? No, no. It was one of those things where we had a party at my house with friends and family, and they started to slowly trickle out, starting at halftime, saying, oh, this game's over, this game's over. And my son will take all the credit in the world for the comeback

because he took his shirt off. He went half nude, essentially, just wearing the undies. Sure enough, the comeback started as soon as he took off that shirt. The rest was history. We celebrated like little babies because my son was basically dressed like a little baby at that point. Well,, you know, little babies because my son was basically dressed like a little baby at that point. Well, there you go, have it.

See, folks, it's breaking news here on Locked On Patriots today. The reason why the Patriots were able to come back from that 28 to 3 deficit was because of Jason's shirt. So that's the reason. And that is the reason why that that comeback was so prolific. Now, you know, that moment was actually before I got started in sports media. And as a pure fan at that point, just watching this unfold, thinking at halftime that the situation was completely out of hand

and that the Patriots really did not have, like, slim to no chance of being able to come back, watching how that unfolded and being able to score and then the able to come back. Watching how that unfolded and being able to score and then the Edelman catch. Actually, I believe the Hightower sack preceded the Edelman catch, if memory serves me correctly. And just watching that unfold was unbelievable. One of the great moments in Patriots history.

And because the Kansas City Chiefs are celebrating their Super Bowl parade today, I thought Patriots fans definitely needed a good memory, and what better memory than the comeback from 28-3. But as I stated before, it's What If Wednesday here on Locked On Patriots, and Podvator, your wisdom and counsel, your insight is what we need today. And because of that, I wanted to get your take on a couple of scenarios, two past, one future, when it comes to Patriots Nation. And I think we'd all be a little remiss if we didn't say that 2019 didn't exactly end the way we hoped in Patriots Nation.

We usually hope it ends with at least a Super Bowl berth, and most likely hoisting the Lombardi Trophy is really what we're all about in New England. It's the Patriots Invitational. What happened? Absolutely. They didn't get the invitation this year. I don't know. I don't know. I heard it was sent out, but well, apparently Tom doesn't want to be wearing a blazer to Super Bowl next year, but and we really don't know where he's going to be playing, folks, but we'll get to that in a minute, I promise you. But in this vein, there are a couple of moments that Patriots fans look at as a what-if moment, and the first that I'm going to start with is probably a little bit of a difficult memory, probably a polarizing memory for Patriots fans, and that is the status of Antonio Brown.

Now, the Antonio Brown saga started with, it really started in Pittsburgh this year. I mean, forcing of the trade. You knew he wasn't going to want to come back. There were a lot of people that were in his ear, I guess, and he was trying to force his way out of Pittsburgh. Had a trade set up to Buffalo. That ended up getting nixed. He ended up going to Oakland.

And the minute he arrived in Oakland, there was a lot of the smatterings of the problems that we saw all year long. I mean, there was the freezing of the feet, and then there was the helmet fiasco, and ultimately he was able to push his way out of town, and he ended up in New England on September 7th. It was announced that Antonio Brown would be coming to New England, that he would be signing after he was indeed released by the Raiders. For a couple of days, it looked like this might be a good fit, and then on Tuesday of that week, that was a Saturday a good fit and then on Tuesday of that week that was a Saturday when that was announced on Tuesday of that week ironically I was recording a crossover with Travis Wingfield host of Locked On Dolphins and right after we got off that recording I get

a text message from Travis right away and he says to me look at what we just missed. And sure enough, there's the news about Antonio Brown facing a civil lawsuit for sexual assault. And in that regard, you start to see the unraveling of what happened. He was allowed to play against the Dolphins that weekend, played pretty well for a quarter, and then was really kind of taken out of the offensive game plan in the latter part of the game. But ultimately, it gave Patriots Nation a glimpse of what Tom Brady to Antonio Brown could look like. The following week, obviously, Antonio just could not stay off of his phone, couldn't stay off of social media, sent some threatening text messages as a result of an article that

had come out earlier in the week by Robert Klimko, which outlined some of the behavior that we've come to know and see from Antonio Brown. Here on... Here on... What if Wednesday? What if Wednesday, thank you very much. Here on What if Wednesday, if Antonio Brown stays off of his phone he's able to control his emotions and he doesn't have the problem of being released by the Patriots does he finish the season in New England just isolating that moment and if he does could that have made a difference in the Patriots outcome this year well there's two Antonio Browns to me that you have to look at utilizing this i had said at the time when the patriots signed antonio brown if the patriots made it to the super bowl i would not be rooting for the patriots to win that super bowl with antonio brown i just i can't with all of

the off the field stuff i could not get behind signing. I didn't agree with it at that particular point in time simply because of the off-the-field stuff. If we're playing, what if? If we want to remove all of the off-the-field stuff and we just make Antonio Brown a football player, 100%, I mean, every team should have been clamoring to go sign Antonio Brown, and we saw exactly what that looked like in

that, in that game. And I do think it would have made a huge difference on the season, not only for Antonio Brown, but remember Josh Gordon was still on the team at that point too. So imagine now your wide receiving core is Antonio Brown, Josh Gordon, Julian Edelman, and Kiel Harry, and the rest of the crew. Hoo-hoo. Yeah, I like that team. I like that team a lot from a football standpoint. Now, things didn't work out with Antonio.

They let him go. And I always noted that the biggest problem with the Patriots' offense this season was they never had an option to take the top off. Everybody was an underneath guy, and Kharry wasn't a speedster. He was a guy who was physical, can out-physical you for the football, even if we didn't really see that. But that's the type of receiver that he is. He's a big bunking target, for lack of a better adjective there. Julian Edelman is obviously the quick slot receiver,

always doing his best to get open, but he's not an outside guy. He's not going to take the top off. The safeties are going to play down, and the Patriots just didn't have an option that they could, we can threaten you deep. We're going to go deep on this particular play. You've got to cover that. Antonio Brown was that option, and they let him go.

Josh Gordon would have been the second option in that aspect, but even Josh started showing signs of his age and slowing down, and he wasn't really taking the top off, and obviously he ended up having his problems. They arose again. Patriots let him go. He signs with Seattle. He's there for only a couple weeks, and then next thing you know,

oh, he's had another violation. What a surprise. Wasn't a surprise at all when that news came out uh so what if Antonio Brown was a regular straight and narrow football player who doesn't have any off-field problems Patriots this would have been a completely different season, 100%. Unfortunately, that big what if can't be taken away. Every time he seems to be on the road to making himself better, he does something even more stupid, literally just an hour later. Almost like the weather in New England. You wait five minutes, it's going to change. Wait five minutes, Antonio Brown's going to change. It's going to be be somebody else I really hope Antonio Brown gets the help that he needs but there was no way in the world I could root for the Patriots with Antonio Brown yeah and I think you share a lot of the same sentiments that a lot of Patriots fans feel look there's no question about it that

the talent on the field that Antonio Brown brings to the table would have been a huge help to the Patriots this year in terms of a what-if, because we are here on what-if Wednesday, I actually don't know if he would have even made it through the season if that doesn't happen and if he stays off his phone, because I just think it was inevitable that something was going to happen to break this marriage up. You heard that right from the time that he was signed. Okay, that's great. They're signing Antonio Brown. How long do you think it's going to last before he does something to shoot his way out of town? So I think a lot of that definitely factored in. You mentioned Josh Gordon, and I think that's a good point,

and a point that a lot of people forget is that there were a lot of high expectations for Josh coming in as well. Throughout the course of the season, we saw that erosion of confidence that they had in him a little bit last year before his suspension, and there were rumors about conditioning and about showing up late to practices and team meetings and things of that nature that were a concern. And ultimately now, unfortunately, both Josh and Antonio are seeking help that they need in two different realms. But I definitely support your scenario as well.

I definitely hope they get the help and just the right track that they need to get back on because these are two very talented athletes. I don't know about necessarily seeing either one of them in an NFL uniform anymore, but hopefully they'll be able to get back on track and live productive lives. You always want to see a good redemption story, and I think the two of them are primed for it. So we are in agreement that Antonio Brown would have definitely helped this team and helped their outcome of the season. The Patriots might have maybe perhaps been a little bit more prolific on the field this year if that wide receiving core was intact.

But one thing that was, I think, an interesting point, and this is the second question that I have for you today in the what-if scenario, is I take you back now to December, December 8th specifically, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. And the Patriots hosted the would-be Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs. In that game, the Patriots played the Chiefs pretty tight. I think we can both agree on that. That was actually a pretty close game. Kansas City started off pretty quick, and the

Patriots started to show signs of clawing back into the game. Now, the Patriots had two chances in the second half to take control of that game, not necessarily take the lead, but take the momentum back, and playing at home, they had a pretty decent shot at putting up some points and maybe changing the complexity of that game. The first option that they had was when Devin McCourty forced the fumble on the Travis Kelsey catch. Gilmore picks up the ball, heads for the end zone. The play was whistled dead by Jerome Boger's crew, obviously.

The play was ruled down by contact, whistled dead. We know the outcome of that and how Patriots Nation was more than a little bit miffed. One of the worst refs in the league. I'm glad he said that, not me. See, he's my boss. He can get away with that. I can't. No, I'm kidding, folks. But in any case, that really set the tone for the game. And then, of course, the next one is probably the more high profile of the two. But really, the Gilmore play being whistled dead really cost the Patriots six points. To me, that was the more damning of the two.

But the one that's getting a lot of press now, especially with how the Super Bowl ended, was Nikhil Harry. You know, they drove to the Kansas City 15. Tom hits Nikhil with a pass in the flat. Harry dives for the end zone in the pylon, but he was ruled out at the two where the replays clearly showed that he had not stepped out of bounds. That ultimately should have been a call that was not overturned. Belichick used both challenges early on and he didn't have a third to overturn the call.

So my question to you, Podvader, on this What If Wednesday is, if either of those plays allow the Patriots to put points up on the board or at least take the momentum back, and they're able to win that game as a result, could the Patriots' outcome of the season been different? Because that probably would have given them the first round by in the playoffs. So, I like this one. And thanks for reminding me of the N'Kill Harry touchdown that was ruled not a touchdown.

That's something that they have to revisit. I mean, the whole point of replay is, well, if the guy at the bar can see that it's a touchdown, then it's got to be ruled. Well, the guy at the bar saw it was a touchdown. It was ruled not a touchdown. I don't know how that happens. I thought that was the whole point.

I share your curiosity. If they had ruled it a touchdown, they would have gone to review, but because it was ruled not a touchdown, it wasn't a scoring play, so they didn't automatically review it. That has to be something that has changed somewhere in the rules. The fact that a coach, and oddly enough, Bill Belichick doesn't normally do this, foolishly wastes his challenges earlier in the game

on foolish plays on top of it that don't necessarily, even if you get the outcome that you're looking for, don't necessarily change the outcome of the drive of the opposing team. That shouldn't be held against you when you score points. If you score points, you score points. You're right. It gives them the first round bye. Does it make them first in the AFC?

Let's say they win that game and Kansas City has lost that game. Baltimore likely hangs on to the number one seed. So Baltimore is still number one and the Patriots are number two. So now the Patriots are hosting the winner of the 3-4 matchup, correct? Correct. So we're looking at – not 3-4, I'm sorry, the 4-5 matchup correct? Correct So we're looking at not 3-4 I'm sorry The 4-5 matchup So we're looking at the Chiefs are probably the 3

So we're looking at The Texans or the Titans or were the Titans The 5th or yes Because the Bills were the 6th So we're looking at the winner of Texans-Titans Which is probably still the Titans. And that means the Titans are still coming to Foxborough and they're probably still kicking

our butt. I think, I think there is something to be said about, you know, I know Vrabel isn't technically a part of the Belichick tree, but I consider Vrabel an offshoot of the Belichick coaching tree. And I think there's something to be said about what he learned in New England and how the Patriots play defense, how they play offense. He has that intrinsic knowledge. He knows how to beat this team on a regular basis, and he's shown it. I also believe, and I heard this whether it was listening to you or one of the other

Patriot podcasts that I happen to listen to, and yes, I do listen to others. Sorry. Oh, it's okay. I do too. I commit podultry all the time. This team was built to beat a team like the Chiefs, a fast, smaller team, not a big bruising team. So the Titans, no matter when they were going to face the Titans, they were probably losing to the Titans, no matter when they were going to face the Titans, they were probably losing to the Titans. So ultimately, they get a week off. But ultimately, I don't think we see the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.

Do we see the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl? That's a more interesting question because now the Chiefs are playing the Bills which is still the same matchup, no? No, the Chiefs ended up playing the Titans. The Chiefs played Houston. They beat Houston in the divisional round and then the Titans in the AFC championship. So the Chiefs would play the Bills. They did not want to play

the Bills. The Bills were coming in hot and the Bills had had their number. Played them tight up in Buffalo. So that would be the interesting one. The interesting one would be if the Patriots win that Kansas City game, I don't

think the Patriots make it to the Super Bowl, but I'm not 100% sold that the Kansas City Chiefs end up in the Super Bowl at that point either. It might be the red-hot Tennessee Titans as the AFC representative against the San Francisco 49ers. And in that scenario, I'm probably going with Jimmy G and the 49ers winning the Super Bowl. Yeah, I think that's really the more interesting question of it. We're in agreement on the Patriots, by the way. And I know I'm probably

going to anger some of my listeners when I say this because a lot of people... Be angry. Absolutely. And I've gotten some Twitter DMs this week saying that oh if Nikhil Harry was just called in the Patriots would have won the Super Bowl they would have gone on I don't think so not this year folks and I say that with a heavy heart because obviously I really would love to believe that if that touchdown was called a touchdown that the Patriots would have gone on and they would have been propelled to a very successful season but the Tennessee Titans if they had to face them in the playoffs this is a team that had their number even if the Patriots were able to get by and they had to end up playing the Baltimore Ravens if the Ravens arrived and did what they needed to do it's another team that had the Patriots number this year Patriots unfortunately were not equipped

to be able to deal with a very power running game the way Tennessee came in to do it. I think that was the worst possible matchup for them in the playoffs, and I think that's why you saw the early exit. You hit the nail on the head. Mike Vrabel knows this system. He knows Bill Belichick, and he's able to utilize his strengths to be able to maximize the strengths of his own team,

and that, to me, is how championships are won. That's how you get to the level that they got to this year. It's how the Chiefs were able to get to their level and the reason why they're celebrating a parade today. So we're in agreement on that. But I think if that call doesn't happen or happens the way it should have happened, it might be a different outcome in Kansas City. We might be having a parade.

Like you said, there might be a parade in San Francisco today or maybe another city. Who knows? So the what-if games is always a slippery slope, but it's fun. And here on What If Wednesday, we love to do that. We love to prognosticate. But we've been living in the past, Jay. And what I'm going to do in just a moment is I'm going to ask you to gaze

into your Belichickian crystal ball or maybe your Brady and crystal ball there's one right here in the studio there really is right now we are looking at a crystal ball right now and it really it looks very ominous and uh it's a question that only you could provide the answer that I'm looking for and it's a question that Patriots Nation does not want to ask see where I'm going with this one folks yeah I Yeah, I think you do. Stay tuned because I'm going to put Jay on the hot seat and ask him about one Mr. Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. in just a moment. However, before I proceed with that, we at Lockdown are proud to say that this episode is sponsored in part by Blue Chew. Guys, now you can increase your performance and get that

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Blue Chew is the better, cheaper, faster choice, and we thank them for sponsoring today's podcast. Once again, folks, Jay Soderberg, the podvator, my fearless leader here at Locked On, has joined me in a beautiful studio here at the Staples Recording Studio today. We thank them for their hospitality, and this has been a great experience so far, Jay. I've thoroughly enjoyed this, but I'm about to make this a little more uncomfortable for you, my friend. It won't be that uncomfortable. I've already talked about ripping off the band-aid once before, so I'm ready. Absolutely, And we got a good response from our listeners.

Good response from me. Maybe not so much for you, but I'm kidding. We talked about the scenario before, about whether Brady is going to stay or whether he's going to leave. I've been very vocal about my feelings. You've been very vocal about yours. But what I'd like to put you on the hot seat for today is if, in fact, the scenario that every Patriots fan is chilled to the bone just thinking about, if Tom Brady walks in free agency, regardless of where he goes, that leaves the Patriots with a pretty big void at quarterback. And I think we're both in agreement on that. No matter who they bring in, those are shoes that are going to be almost impossible to fill. My question to you on this What If Wednesday, gazing into your Brady and crystal ball,

how do the Patriots fill those shoes? It's a great question. Much like with Rob Gronkowski's early retirement last season, I don't believe you can actually fill the shoes. What are they going to do to be competitive in the league? They have to build a team around a second-year quarterback in Jarrett Stidham, who, you know, his second year is obviously his big boost year. I don't think he's going to be Patrick Mahomesian.

I don't even think he'll be Jimmy Garoppolo, Jimmy Garoppio-ian, if that's a word, which it's not, I just made it up. I think he'll be okay. And as we've learned, okay is not okay. But how do, so now it's how do we put the pieces in place around him to build a better team? I listened to your show yesterday and I agree agree the offensive line is a place of worry.

I think Cesar Ruiz is an excellent piece to add via the draft. From what I'm hearing, you don't need to get him in the first round. You can wait on him. Now, the problem with that is the Patriots don't have a second-round draft choice, which is probably where he will end up going. So the Patriots have to find a way to get a second round draft choice to get Cesar Ruiz to add to the interior of the offensive line. I think with that first round draft choice, you have to go with an offensive weapon. It's, you just have to. And I personally like Henry Ruggs at that particular spot as a speedy

guy. And remember, we're talking about we need a guy who's going to take the top off, we need a guy that's going to be able to get downfield fast, that you have to account for. Because if you don't, Jarrett Stidham will hit him with a withidham bomb in the deep side of the field, and it'll be over. But it doesn't just end there. You also need a tight end. You need somebody in that tight end position. Can they get a Hunter Henry?

I think he's going to be too expensive. Can they get Greg Olson? Doesn't sound like Greg Olson's interested in coming to New England. It sounds like he's interested in going to every other team that needs a tight end, except for New England, which is a little interesting. So who can they get at the tight end position? Sounds like they're probably going to have to dip into the draft again. Depending on how many resources they got to use to get into the second round to get Cesar Ruiz,

will they still have a third round pick to get a guy like a Comet, whom I think I've seen in the mock draft him going in the first round. Can he last to the third round? I think he can. I think that particular mock draft had him a little bit overrated. I do think that there will be value in a tight end in that third round that they'll be able to get in, who will be able to perform, again, not like Gronk, but will be a guy who can block and catch the ball.

I think there will be that guy waiting in the third round. He's not going to be, again, a phenomenal out-of-this-world player, but he'll be good enough. I haven't addressed the second side of the football team at all in the defensive side of the ball. And that's because if we're not bringing Tom Brady back, you do have a little bit more money to bring back the captain of your

defense and Devin McCourty. You do have a little bit more money to bring back Kyle Van Noy at the very least. You're still hoping that Jamie Collins is going to take a discount. I doubt he will. He's proven before he didn't want a discount, but he did come back. So maybe that particular door is open that they can bring him in. I mean, Collins was the MVP of the defense in those first four or five games, and then he just

completely disappeared, like completely disappeared. Hightower is an asset I think that you can move on from. I think you can find a team that will covet what Dante Hightower can bring. And I think you can deal Dante Hightower and you can have a linebacking defensive front that revolves more around Kyle Vannoy, Jamie Collins, and Jawan Bentley. I'm a big Bentley believer. I think that kid's got it all. And I think he's got the same skill set as Dante Hightower. Maybe not as good as Dante Hightower, but certainly has the same skill set there. He's a bigger thumper type linebacker. And if you bring a Landon Roberts back to you've got, you still have a little bit of that leadership core in, in that defensive front.

There's also some, there there'll also be some free agents, those older big body types, those Ted Washington's who, whom you can get that it will be very cheap. You'll be able to get them in the third or fourth week of free agency that won't cost you a lot of money, that will be able to plug in some of those holes

that you're going to have with Danny Shelton taking a walk. Adam Butler's a restricted free agent. We don't have to worry about him. The question will be what contract do they offer him so that he doesn't just get stolen away from someone matching that particular contract I think they'll probably give him a second round tender and they can afford that that'll be that'll be perfectly fine and I don't think anybody's going to steal Adam Butler for a

second round tender which is fine with me because Adam Butler I think showed signs that he can take that next step and be the defensive lineman that this team is going to need. With John Simon, basically I just painted my what-if perfect picture of what I want to see happen. This is the Soderbergh Patriots roster for 2020, folks. This is sort of how if I'm on Madden and I'm putting together the Patriots roster, this is the team that I am assembling to go into the next season. And do I think it's a Super Bowl contender? No, but what I'm hoping for out of this particular team

is to get to the playoffs, which I think it is a playoff. It's at least a wild card team. I do think the Bills, based on the roster that I just gave you, might be a little bit ahead of the Patriots, just based on the quarterback play, the difference between Josh Allen and Jarrett Stidham. But I do think that this would be a team that if they're in the playoffs is going to be dangerous. It's the Bill Belichick's back here. This is a Bill Belichick defense. The strength of the team

is going to be the defense. They have the same pieces, mostly the same pieces in place on that defense to get it done. And if they get a young rookie that can make an impact on that offensive line and a young tight end that will make an impact to open up that running game, Sonny Michel, Damian Harris, and whomever else they decide to keep hopefully james white is part of that equation too are going to have no problem running the football and running and defense i think does that sound familiar is that so is that something that's been done before i don't know it's a formula that tends to work well in the NFL, and it's tend to work well for the head man that currently sits on the bench in Foxborough. And no, I don't mean literally on the bench, folks.

You know what I mean. He's the head man, Bill Belichick. And I think you take an interesting approach. And to tell you the truth, I think that's exactly what I expected you to say and exactly what I think our listeners expected you to say, is that the focus comes back to the defense now. This becomes a team that's molded in the image of Bill Belichick Jarrett Stidham will most likely be the replacement if Brady does have to leave I just can't see them wanting to go out and sign a bridge quarterback

for one or two years if they're not able to do that now there actually is a lot of rumblings as to whether or not they would try to trade up in the draft to be able to get someone if I if I may just interrupt you just for a second. Please do. They do have a bridge quarterback on the roster already in Cody Kessler. Cody Kessler. Listen, you can say what you want about Cody Kessler. As a backup quarterback, he has proven his worth.

So coming in for a game or two, he'll be perfectly fine, and he's been with this team for a majority of the end of the season here. Was instrumental in running the scout team. So we don't need a bridge quarterback. We already have one. Right. Good point. Very,

very good point. And something that I don't think a point that's not made as often as it should be. So obviously Jay has outlined his scenario in terms of how the Patriots would feel. Of course. And I say this with all due respect, Bob Vader,

I believe he's wrong. I still think Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. is going to be taking his snaps right here in Foxborough next year, folks. And I've been vocalist to the reasons why. You didn't offer me that option. You said he was gone. But you see, I'm trying to endear myself back to my audience because you anger some people when you say Tom Brady's going to leave. No, I'm kidding. It was definitely the question for that. And Jay, you answered it perfectly and exactly how I believe they will attack that if, in fact, Tom has played his last game here in New England. So ultimately, folks, there's only really one man that knows for sure whether or not that's going to be the case, and that is Tom Brady, save for

Bill Belichick, because he's got a lot of say in this matter as well. But ultimately, we'll see how it all plays out. We're on to 2020. Officially officially everyone in the NFL is on to 2020 all the records now are reset the championship confetti has settled in Kansas City and we are on to 2020 the draft coming up and a lot of exciting things here in Patriots Nation. Jay what can I say thank you so much for taking time out to join me today here in the Staples studio in of massachusetts we absolutely had a blast here always fun to share the microphone with you my friend thank you for your wisdom your counsel and thank you for your insight and hopefully you've given us all in patriots nation a little something to think about when it comes to the what-ifs surrounding this team in 2019 and heading forward into 2020 thanks for having me mike and i promise i won't use my i

won't abuse my powers too much in the future. Well, the abuse of power is something that is your right and your privilege. So if you want to, go ahead and abuse away. As long as I get to still share the microphone with you, I'm all for it. As for me, folks, I will be back again tomorrow to continue to bring you the latest news notes and analysis from Foxborough. As always, please be sure to join me each and every day here on the Locked On Patriots podcast.

Subscribe and download via your preferred podcast provider. We are a proud member of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Be sure to follow us on Twitter at LO underscore Patriots. You can follow me on Twitter at MDABATEFPC. Thank you so much for joining me today, folks. Thank you so much for listening, and thank you so much for staying locked in to Locked On Patriots. Have a great day, everyone.