THURSDAy, MARCH 19 , 2020. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE D3
never counts as an endorsement.
But t he majority opinion
among peers a nd c ompetitors
seems to be that B rady is still
Brady and h e will lift t he
Buccaneers to new heights. Pro
football focus graded Brady a s
the 1 0th-best quarterback w ho
took at l east 20 percent of h is
team’s s naps. one N fL
coordinator who faced Brady l ast
season suggested a ny s truggles
emanated f rom the rest o f the
Patriots’ o ffense.
“I still think Tom is a top QB
and b elieve he is the type o f guy
that will make all players around
him b etter,” t he defensive
coordinator said.
The most appealing aspect o f
Brady heading to Ta mpa Bay is
envisioning how he w ill perform
with skill players w ho are not just
adequate but elite. A t the end o f
last season, Brady’s b est receivers
were Julian Edelman and
mohamed Sanu, both o f whom
fought injuries. His tight ends,
brAdy from d1 Benjamin Watson and matt
LaCosse, w ere invisible.
The Buccaneers will p rovide
Brady an arsenal of receiving
options that will rank a mong t he
best and d eepest he has ever h ad.
mike Evans and Chris Godwin
could be the best wide receiver
duo in the NfL, and Evans will
immediately become the b est
deep threat Brady has t hrown to
since randy moss. T ight end o.J.
Howard, a former top-20 pick, has
never been fully a ctivated, but
with Brady a t the controls he
could become a star.
There i s plenty of s moke about
Antonio B rown reuniting with
Brady in Ta mpa Bay, b ut those
rumors may be overblown. Brown
is still facing legal hurdles and
remains on t he commissioner’s
exempt l ist, meaning he probably
faces a suspension if h e joins an
NfL t eam. B ut other available
wide receivers w ill be eager to
catch p asses from Brady, w hich
means r emaining free a gents —
Emmanuel Sanders? robby
Anderson? — m ay n ow add
Ta mpa Bay to their list of
preferred d estinations.
Brady will play for C oach Bruce
Arians, which o n the s urface is a n
elegant fit. Arians has g uided
Carson Palmer a nd B en
roethlisberger to some of their
best seasons, and i n Palmer h e
showed how he could shepherd a
quarterback t hrough t he final
stage of his career. Arians’s
system r elies on deep p assing,
which i n Brady’s h ands may open
room underneath for G odwin,
Howard a nd s econd tight e nd
Cameron Brate to operate.
But t here a re b roader
questions about Brady joining a
new team than how the o ffense
will function. Brady has played in
the s ame s ystem and l ived i n the
same culture — b oth of w hich h e
helped c ultivate — f or his e ntire
career. How will he adjust
elsewhere? T he answer is
unknowable, b ut it will be c entral
to h is success or failure.
The hive mind of Brady,
Belichick and offensive
coordinator Josh mcDaniels madethings possible for the Patriots
that were not for other teams.
They could adjust quickly, with the
barest of communication, because
of shared history and a common
understanding. When the Patriots
beat the rams in the Super Bowl,
they relied on a set of plays they
had not used in years, but they
added them on the fly because
they all had the same points of
reference. Brady and Edelman
could explain a universe about the
opposing defense with a glance or
subtle hand sign. Brady played on
a different mental plane, a crucial
factor to his brilliance and
longevity.
It’s n ot about whether
Belichick is a smarter or better
coach. Arians is a great coach, but
developing that kind o f shared
expertise r equires time — y ears
and y ears o f work. It i s folly to
guess what kind o f offseason NfL
teams w ill have, but Brady and
Arians c ertainly will have less
than they w ould under normal
circumstances to create a system
together. B rady is not at a n age atwhich h e can rely on h is physical
ability, b ut he may have to do so
more than h e has in y ears.
The marriage of Brady and
Arians w ill b e contrasted b y Sean
Payton and D rew Brees, t he
tandem now s tanding d irectly in
Brady’s path. Brady and Brees will
square off twice per s eason in the
NfC S outh, one of t he m ost
appetizing s ide effects of Brady’s
decision. Brady has f easted on the
AfC E ast for his entire career. In a
new place, he will find a nother
all-time great i n his own division,
along with Te ddy Bridgewater in
Carolina (who went 5-0 a s the
Saints’ backup starter l ast season)
and matt ryan in Atlanta (who
won a n mVP four years ago).
Brady can no longer p encil i n 5-1
or 6-0 i n division games.
It i s a new world for B rady.
There’s a pirate flag on his h elmet.
There w ill be palm t rees where
there was snow. T here is no m ore
Belichick on the s idelines. T he
shock h as not worn off, a nd
already t here i s much to consider.
[email protected]ON THE NFL
QB may not be a savior, but he gives Buccaneers instant credibility
ASSOCIATED PRESST he Jacksonville Jaguars are
trying to mitigate one of the cost-
liest mistakes in franchise history.
A person familiar with the
trade said the Jaguars a greed
Wednesday to send quarterback
Nick foles to the Chicago Bears
for a compensatory fourth-round
draft pick, No. 140 overall.
The Jaguars are dumping
foles, 31, a little more than a year
after giving the 2018 Super Bowl
mVP a four-year, $88 million con-
tract that included a whopping
$50.125 million guaranteed.
The Bears are getting a veteran
starter to compete with mitchell
Trubisky, who struggled in his
third season.
foles is due to make
$15.125 million in 2020 a nd would
have counted $21.837 million
against Jacksonville’s salary cap.
l PANTHErS: Carolina re-
leased safety Eric reid just
13 months after giving him a
three-year contract extension
worth $22 million a fter the 2018
season, including a $9 million
signing bonus. The move means
the Panthers will be on the hook
for $5 million in dead cap money.
reid, 28, s tarted 29 games over
the past two seasons for the Pan-
thers and had 201 tackles, five
sacks and one interception.
l brONCOS: Denver r eport-
edly acquired five-time Pro Bowl
defensive lineman Jurrell Casey
from T ennessee f or a seventh-
round draft pick.
A six-time team captain, Casey
was the longest-tenured player on
the Titans’ roster. He has started
137 of 139 games played.
l rAMS: A person with knowl-
edge of the deal said Los Angeles
agreed to a one-year contract
worth $10 million with pass-rush-
ing linebacker Leonard floyd.
floyd spent his first four NfL
seasons with C hicago, which
drafted him n inth in 2016. He h ad
seven sacks in his rookie season,
but his totals declined in each
subsequent season. The Bears re-
leased him Tuesday.
Also, o ffensive lineman Austin
Blythe agreed to a one-year deal to
return to the rams. He started all
but one game the past two years.
l bILLS: Buffalo s igned cor-
nerback Josh Norman to a one-
year contract. The d eal was
agreed to march 9.
N orman, 32, was c ut by Wash-
ington last month with one year
left on his five-year, $75 million
contract. Bills Coach Sean mcDer-
mott was Carolina’s defensive co-
ordinator during Norman’s first
four NfL seasons.
l CHArGErS: D efensive tack-
le Linval Joseph a greed to a two-
year contract with L os Angeles.
The deal reportedly is f or
$17 million but could go a s high as
$19 million with additional incen-
tives. Joseph, 31, was released last
week by minnesota.
l LIONS: Detroit agreed to a
two-year, $8 million deal with
defensive tackle Danny Shelton,
who s tarted 14 games last season
for N ew England with t hree sacks
and a forced fumble. He w as a
first-round p ick by Cleveland in
2015.
l JETS: New York re-signed
cornerback Brian Poole to a one-
year, $5 million fully guaranteed
contract. Last season, Poole, 27,
had 62 tackles, one interception,
six p asses defensed and a forced
fumble in 14 games with 10 starts.
l dOLPHINS: A person famil-
iar with the deal said center Te d
Karras a greed to a o ne-year,
$4 million contract with miami.
The four-year veteran b ecame a
starter last year for the P atriots.
l rAIdErS: A person familiar
with the deal said free agent cor-
nerback Eli Apple a greed to a
contract with L as Vegas. Apple
was the 10th pick by the New York
Giants in 2016 before being trad-
ed to New orleans midway
through the 2018 season.
l PATrIOTS: New England r e-
portedly agreed to trade safety
Duron Harmon to D etroit. Har-
mon h as played all seven of his
NfL seasons with the Patriots.
l bUCCANEErS: Tampa Bay
ranked 30th among 32 teams in
home attendance last season, av-
eraging 51,898 fans per game.
Within hours of reports of the
team closing in on a deal with
quarterback To m Brady on Tues-
day, the website selling season
tickets showed more than
2,400 people in a queue w aiting for
an opportunity to make purchases.
l 49ErS: Longtime San fran-
cisco c oach and executive Bill
mcPherson d ied Tuesday at age- He spent 20 seasons as a
defensive assistant for the 49ers
from 1979 to 1998, helping them
win five Super Bowl titles.
NFL NOTESJaguars
ship Foles
to Bears for
draft pick
BY BARRY SVRLUGATo m Brady has played 20 sea-
sons and thrown 9,988 passes —
541 of them for touchdowns. All
were for the New England Patri-
ots. Should he pad any of those
stats next season, when he will be
43, he will do so as a Ta mpa Bay
Buccaneer.
With his announcement Tues-
day that he would continue his
career elsewhere, Brady made
New England fans sad and wist-
ful. Te d Williams never played
elsewhere. Larry Bird never
played elsewhere. Bill russell
never played elsewhere. Why Bra-
dy?
Ye t Brady’s circumstances are
hardly unique. Plenty of Hall of
famers across sports have been
the identities of one franchise but
finished their careers somewhere
else. There are so many that, to
limit the length of this list, we
eliminated those stars who made
more than one stop beyond their
primary teams.
So no Wayne Gretzky (Los An-
geles and St. Louis and New York
after Edmonton), no Jerry rice
(oakland and Seattle after San
francisco), no Brett favre (New
York and minnesota after Green
Bay), no Gordie Howe (Houston
and Hartford after Detroit). But
here are the best examples we
could find, in chronological order
from their rookie seasons.
Ty Cobb
Primary team: Detroit Tigers,
1905 -26
Swan song: Philadelphia Ath-
letics, 1927-28
In his 22 seasons with the
Tigers, Cobb hit an extraordinary
.368 and had 3,900 hits, a total
that has been surpassed by only
Pete rose. He won 12 batting
titles in a 13-year span, hit .400
three times, won the Triple
Crown in 1909 and became De-
troit’s player-manager in 1921.
His career as a Tiger propelled
him into the inaugural Hall of
fame class in 1936 with the high-
est percentage of votes.
After the 1926 season, Cobb
announced he would retire as
player and manager at age 39.
Curiously, Cleveland star Tris
Speaker followed weeks later
with his own retirement. The
reason, as announced by Com-
missioner Kenesaw mountain
Landis: former Tigers pitcher
Dutch Leonard claimed Speaker,
Cobb and Cleveland outfielder
Joe Wood had conspired to fix a
game between Cleveland and De-
troit in 1919. Cobb maintained his
innocence. “my conscience is
clear,” he said. When Leonard
refused to testify in front of
Landis, the commissioner rein-
stated Cobb and Speaker. But the
Tigers released Cobb, and he
played his final two seasons in
Philadelphia, where he hit .343
and collected the final 289 hits of
his career.
Willie Mays
Primary team: New York and
San francisco Giants, 1951-72
(with much of 1952 and all of 1953
off for the Korean War)
Swan song: New York mets,
197 2-73
mays defined the Giants on
two coasts. He wore a New York
uniform when he made the icon-
ic, over-his-head catch of Vic
Wertz’s drive in Game 1 of the
1954 World Series, the year he
won his first National League
mVP award. He wore a San fran-
cisco uniform when he hit
52 homers and won his second
mVP award in 1965. He was a
Giant.
Until, in may 1972, he wasn’t.
mays was 41. The Giants were
losing on the field and at the box
office. “There’s a very sentimental
and emotional factor involved,”
Giants owner Horace Stoneham
said. Ye t after 2,857 games with
the Giants, mays was traded to
the New York mets for reliever
Charlie Williams and $50,000. A
.304 hitter with 646 homers with
the Giants, mays’s career finished
with 135 games as a met in which
he hit just .238 and managed his
final 14 homers.Hank Aaron
Primary team: milwaukee and
Atlanta Braves, 1954-74
Swan song: milwaukee Brew-
ers, 1975-76
Aaron arrived in the majors
when the Braves were in just their
second season in milwaukee, and
he had the first of 20 straight
all-star seasons with the team the
following year. By the time the
Braves moved to Atlanta for the
1966 season, he was a star —
methodically climbing the career
leader board in home runs by
cracking at least 30 homers
15 times in a 17-season span. In
1970, he recorded his 3,000th hit
as a Brave. And in 1974, he hit
historic homer No. 715 — break-
ing Babe ruth’s career mark — as
a Brave.
But after that season, when the
40-year-old Aaron decided not to
retire, the Braves traded him to
the milwaukee Brewers — reunit-
ing him with a former city,
though with a new franchise and
new league. With the Brewers,
Aaron broke ruth’s career record
for rBI. But in two seasons back
in milwaukee, the man who hit
.310 over his career with theBraves managed to hit just .232
with 22 homers, and he retired.Johnny Unitas
Primary team: Baltimore
Colts, 1956-72
Swan song: San Diego Char-
gers, 1973
Unitas represents so much
about football in Baltimore. first,
of course, were the champion-
ships won in 1958, 1959 and 1970,
when the Colts beat the Dallas
Cowboys in Super Bowl V even
though Unitas was knocked from
the game with a rib injury in the
second quarter. But he also is a
symbol of the pain of losing the
franchise, in the middle of the
night, to Indianapolis.
That Super Bowl game was, in
a way, the beginning of the end
for Unitas in Baltimore. He
shared time with Earl morrall,
the Super Bowl hero, in 1971, then
was benched just five games into- He was 40 years old and
could no longer play. His San
Diego debut was a 38-0 loss to
Washington in which he threw
three interceptions. He played in
only four more games and retired
after the season.
bobby Orr and ray bourque
Primary team: Boston Bruins
(orr 1966-76, Bourque 1979-
2000)
Swan songs: orr, Chicago
Blackhawks, 1976-79; Bourque,
Colorado Avalanche, 2000-01
Two of the NHL’s best all-time
defensemen also defined hockey
in Boston during their stays
there. orr won eight straight
Norris Trophies as the league’s
best defenseman as well as the1970 and 1972 Stanley Cups with
the Bruins. The first of those was
secured by his Game 7 overtime
goal to beat St. Louis. Bourque
won five Norris Trophies during
21 years with the Bruins.
Their departures couldn’t have
been more different. orr’s balky
knees had limited him to
10 games in the 1975-76 season,
but he wanted to return to Boston
— and the Bruins wanted him
back. However, Alan Eagleson,
orr’s agent who was then the
head of the league’s players’
union, didn’t tell orr about Bos-
ton’s offer. Instead, he orchestrat-
ed a deal to get orr to the Chicago
Blackhawks, who were owned by
one of Eagelson’s friends. orr’s
career sputtered in Chicago,
where he played just 26 games
over three seasons before his
knee issues forced him to retire.
Bourque’s final chapter was
decidedly better. Bourque served
as a Bruins captain for 15 years
but never won the Cup. With the
club struggling midway through
the 1999-2000 season, he request-
ed a trade and was dealt to
Colorado — in search of a chance
to finally win a championship. He
did so in 2001, when he was still
an all-star level player at age 40.
He retired after that season.Joe Montana
Primary team: San francisco
49ers, 1979-92
Swan song: Kansas City
Chiefs, 1993-94
montana won four Super
Bowls and two mVP awards with
the 49ers, with whom he seemed
the perfect fit for Coach Bill
Walsh’s revolutionary West Coast
offense. His backpedaling, under-
pressure touchdown pass to
Dwight Clark in the 1981 NfC
championship game beat Dallas
and became one of the most
memorable plays in NfL history.
In 1991, though, montana suf-
fered an elbow injury in the
preseason. He missed all of that
year and played only in mop-up
duty in the final game of 1992. By
that point, Steve Young had es-
tablished himself as San francis-
co’s quarterback going forward.
By April 1993, montana asked for
a trade, and the 49ers dealt him
to Kansas City. By the start of the
season, he was 37. He played in
just 11 games that year, and his
60.7 percent completion rate was
the second lowest of his career as
a starter. He finished his career
the following year, completing
60.6 percent of his passes with
16 touchdowns and nine inter-ceptions. The Chiefs made the
playoffs in both of montana’s
seasons with them.Michael Jordan
Primary team: Chicago Bulls,
1984-93 and 1995-98
Swan song: Washington Wiz-
ards, 2001-03
In 13 seasons with the Bulls —
interrupted by a detour into mi-
nor league baseball — Jordan
won 10 scoring titles and six NBA
championships. He was the mVP
five times, the finals mVP six
times. He created an iconic logo
that still thrives today. He’s in the
conversation as the best athlete
of the 20th century.
And then he came out of retire-
ment to begin the 21st century
with... the Wizards? He was
already in the midst of a second
act as the team’s top basketball
executive, a run that met with
accusations that Jordan was an
absentee exec. Two weeks after
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, he
announced that he would resume
his career. At 38, his body was
breaking down. He managed
60 games — and a career-low
22.9-point scoring average — be-
fore cartilage in his knee shut
him down, and though he played
all 82 games the following year
(averaging 20.0 points), the Wiz-
ards went 37-45 in both seasons
and missed the playoffs twice.Emmitt Smith
Primary team: Dallas Cow-
boys, 1990-2002
Swan song: A rizona Cardinals,
2003 -04
Smith led the league in rushing
four times and was an mVP with
the Cowboys, for whom he joined
quarterback Troy Aikman and
wide receiver michael Irvin as the
offensive core of a group that won
three Super Bowls. With Dallas,
he broke Walter Payton’s record
for career rushing yards and mar-
cus Allen’s record for career rush-
ing touchdowns. He was an icon.
But in 2003, the Cowboys hired
Hall of fame coach Bill Parcells,
who wanted a younger roster.
Smith would be 34 that fall, and
Dallas did the unthinkable: It
released him. Smith signed a
two-year deal with Arizona, but
he broke his collarbone in a game
against his old team and played
in just 10 games that season. He
rushed for 937 yards in 2004 but
averaged just 3.5 yards per carry
and retired after the season.Peyton Manning
Primary team: Indianapolis
Colts, 1998-2011
Swan song: Denver Broncos,
2012 -15
As a Colt, manning won four
mVP awards and a Super Bowl,
threw 399 touchdown passes and
was the most important player
after the franchise moved from
Baltimore. But when manning
missed all of the 2011 season
because of a neck injury, t he Colts
released manning in march and
selected Stanford quarterback
Andrew Luck with the first pick
in the NfL draft, beginning a
rebuild.
Though he would be 36 and
hadn’t played in a year, manning
had several suitors. He signed
with the Broncos and led the NfL
in completion percentage and
passer rating his first year there.
In 2013, he set NfL records by
throwing for 5,477 yards and
55 touchdowns in winning his
fifth mVP award. manning’s final
season of 2015 was hampered by
foot injuries and poor play — he
was actually benched for Brock
osweiler — but the Broncos’ de-
fense led him to his second Super
Bowl title, this one over Carolina.
[email protected]Brady isn’t first legend to leave team he defined
ASSOCIATED PRESS
After 22 seasons with the Tigers, Hall of Famer T y Cobb played o ut his career with the Philadelphia A’s.LENNOX MCLENDON/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Joe Montana won four Super bowls and two NFL MVP awards
with San F rancisco before ending his career with Kansas City.