Tom Brady has changed the way NFL teams are structured. You have some time before jumping into StatementGames alternative Fantasy Football but as you prep for 2021… a review of how Tom Brady has impacted NFL personnel decisions.
Tom Brady’s Successful 2020
In 2020 Tom Brady won his 7th Super Bowl in his 10th appearance. The difference this time is Brady won with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers instead of the New England Patriots. Brady was also involved in the personnel decision making for the first time in his career. His success now has other talented quarterbacks wanting a say in personnel (the Tom Brady Effect). Last season Brady wanted:
- TE Rob Gronkowski (Bucs traded for him)
- RB Leonard Fournette (Bucs signed him)
- WR Antonio Brown (Bucs signed him)
In other words the Buccaneers went out of their way to make Brady happy by building the team he wanted .
Aaron Rodgers‘ Situation in Green Bay
Rodgers wants to follow a similar path to that of Tom Brady. The longtime quarterback of the Green Bay Packers has developed a chemistry and affinity with many players and coaches:
- Quarterback Coach Alex Van Pelt (Gone)
- FB John Kuhn (Got Rid Of)
- WR Jordy Nelson (Released)
- WR Jake Kumerow (Kicked To The Curb)
The Packers also decided to draft Rodgers potential replacement if the 1st round of the 2020 NFL draft. They even traded away their 4th round pick to move up in the draft to choose his potential successor. Last season Rodgers said a lot of superlatives about Devante Adams. We can only wait now to see if Green Bay gets rid of him. Obviously the Buccaneers and Packers are polar opposites when it comes to listening to their future Hall of Fame quarterbacks.
Deshaun Watson‘s Situation in Houston
Tom Brady’s success winning the Super Bowl in Tampa Bay has caused an uproar on the Houston Texans. The Texan’s young talented quarterback Deshaun Watson is now refusing to play for the team. Watson says he was promised input in the hiring of the new GM (who is responsible for team personnel) but was ignored.
It should also be noted the Texans have completely bungled their personnel the last few years. They traded a King’s Ransom to the Dolphins for Laremy Tunsil (a very good OT but not worth what the Texans paid). They also traded arguably the best WR in football DeAndre Hopkins to the Cardinals. For Hopkins the Cardinals got a 2nd round draft pick and an oft-injured and overpaid RB. Personnel blunders like these have taken the Texans from an up and coming potential Super Bowl contender to last place in their division.
As of this writing the Texans are refusing to trade Watson. The team played so poorly defensively last season that after the final game star defensive end JJ Watt went up to Watson and apologized to him for wasting his season.
Russell Wilson‘s Situation in Seattle
Watson isn’t the only quarterback wanting input into personnel decisions. Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks is also making waves. Wilson isn’t as young as Watson. However, Wilson is considerably younger than Brady and he is also a Super Bowl Champion with one win in two appearances. Seattle’s poorly constructed offensive line is what seems to be generating Wilson’s unhappiness although it’s also possible he has grown tired of playing for Head Coach Pete Carroll. This has recently progressed to the point where Wilson who like Watson has a no-trade clause has indicated he would accept a trade. Wilson listed four teams he would play for:
- Chicago Bears
- Las Vegas Raiders
- Dallas Cowboys
- New Orleans Saints
Just Wilson’s choice of the above teams shows how dissatisfied he is with Seattle right now. The Seahawks won 12 games last season. The Saints also had 12 wins but the Bears and Raiders both finished with 8 wins and the Cowboys only won 6 games.
There is no going back
Brady most likely never imagined how his success would cause unrest in the Personnel Departments of other NFL Franchises. However now that it has happened there isn’t any going back. The NFL will never become the NBA where the players dictate everything. In the NFL the game is bigger than the players whereas the opposite is true in the NBA. Many NFL Franchises sell out their stadiums regardless of who plays quarterback or the won-loss record of their teams. But the days of the biggest stars getting ignored are over too. Tom Brady’s success has proven that a Quarterback (Brady), Head Coach (Bruce Arians), and GM (Jason Licht) working together can build a Super Bowl Champion team.
We can only wonder how successful the Packers of the 60’s, the Steelers of the 70’s, the 49ers of the 80’s, the Cowboys of the 90’s, and the Patriots of the 2000’s and 2010’s would have fared if they had given their star quarterbacks more personnel input. Would they have been even better, the same, or worse? What about all the other great quarterbacks in the past who had no say in personnel; Johnny Unitas, Sonny Jurgensen, Kenny Stabler, Fran Tarkenton, Dan Fouts, Dan Marino, etc. Would their teams have fared better or worse? Would they have even wanted this input? Times are changing in the NFL.
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