Tom Brady has skipped the start of the Patriots’ organized team activities (OTAs) along with fellow Patriot, tight end Rob Gronkowski, which has raised the eyebrows of people both outside and inside the organization.
OTAs are voluntary, but Brady usually doesn’t skip them when healthy. Brady also skipped the voluntary workouts when they started about a month ago, starting rumors in the media that he’s either seriously considering retirement or looking to send an underlying message and spite head coach Bill Belichick.
Gronkowski is also skipping the OTAs as he looks to renegotiate a new contract with the club, but this is seen as a normal way to pressure a team to get a new improved deal.
Brady’s contract runs through the 2019 season, but he’s more than once expressed that he wants to have it renegotiated before the start of the 2018 season. The team has not moved in that direction yet, but team owner Robert Kraft said in an interview last month that although he was comfortable with Brady’s contract situation he would deal with it if it became a team issue.
The Tom Brady watch is now officially on for next month’s mandatory minicamps. If Brady doesn’t show up there, then he will officially be subject to fines and other kinds of punishment from within the Patriots organization itself.
If that indeed happens then that would be an indication that the friction between Brady and Belichick is indeed very real.
During the 2107 season, it was reported that the relationship between Brady, Belichick, Kraft, and others was fracturing over numerous issues.
The rumors were further fueled when, On April 30, while speaking at the Milken Institute Global Conference; Brady jokingly decided to plead the fifth when asked if he felt appreciated by the team.
