The end of the Tom Brady Era?

There comes a point in every great quarterbacks career that his franchise makes a difficult decision to part ways. The 49ers had to part ways with Joe Montana. The Packers had to sever ties with Brett Farve and even the Colts had to release Peyton Manning in start a new quarterback era. History has shown us that this was not a voluntary move on the quarterback's behalf. Let's face it. Many quarterbacks don't know when to retire and many teams ride with them too long.

History has also shown us that teams that stand by their convictions and trade
or release hall-of-fame quarterbacks, before they are ready, get back to prominence sooner than those that hang on to long. Use the Green Bay Packers with Aaron Rodgers, 49ers with Steve Young, and Colts with Andrew Luck as reference.

On the contrast, teams that have stuck with their "guy" have yet to bounce back. Use the Cowboys and Troy Aikman and the Miami Dolphins with Dan Marino as reference. Neither team has sniffed a Super Bowl after the retirement of both hall-of-famers who played well past their prime. The only contradiction that comes to mind is John Elway, whom to my limited knowledge is the only hall-of-fame quarterback to retire on top.

This brings us the future hall-of-famer Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Brady has done everything for his franchise. He has won 3 of 5 Super Bowls he has appeared in and become the playoff win leader of all time in the NFL surpassing his childhood idol Joe Montana. The last 8 years he has failed to win the biggest game. It is not that Brady is playing at a mediocre level, but it is time that Bill Belichek and Robert Kraft address the elephant in the room with the number 12 jersey on.


The Patriots are equipped to make the move now. Ryan Mallett, also from Michigan, has been under the Belichek system for two years. Everyone can agree that Mallett had the better college career of the two. The Patriots have a plethora of draft picks they can use to rebuild with Mallett at the helm. Many believe that both Brady and Belichek are tied at the hip. If one goes than so will the other. If the franchise decides to follow the NFL guidebook to getting back to the top, then the discussion needs to start.

Follow Rodney Fisher on twitter @RFSportsRadio