So Bob Kraft just said "Aw, snap", pulled out his checkbook and wrote down a number that would keep the greatest quarterback in NFL history a New England Patriot until he became a quadragenarian, which is nowhere near as bad as it sounds, but is bordering on being ancient in NFL terms...
...but now Brady is saying that 40 is just a base line, and that's he'd like to play beyond that milestone, if Kraft and coach Bill Belichick will have him.
But what's the limit here? Bret Favre at 41? Earl Morral at 42? Or is George Blanda's record 48 on the line here?
Certainly, Tom will have enough sense to know when the day comes that he can't do it consistently any longer, and won't put Kraft and Belichick on the spot by making them hand him a pink slip and have security toss him out of the stadium - but that day isn't coming anytime soon and, truth be told, Brady looks to be as good as he's ever been.
And now that he has a whole new brace of slippery wide receivers to throw at, Brady's golden years should be filled with first downs and scoring strikes - his fists full of cash, home full of children and his heart full of joy...
Which is bad news for back ups Ryan Mallett and Tim Tebow, but for entirely different reasons.
For Tebow, this is his third team in four years - which means he's running out of NFL teams who have the organizational strength to accommodate the media attention the charismatic University of Florida product generates...
...in Denver the fans are crazy, so they never really noticed anything out of place. In the Jets' locker room, he was just another squirrel. But in New England he is Silent Bob - obedient to a fault, Tebow could thrive in Belichick's Players-should-be-seen-but-not-heard world where distractions disappear like stoolies in the Witness Protection Program.
To most, Tebow is like the black sheep of a prominent business family, the patriarch creating a job for him in order to save the family the embarrassment of a Billy Madison-style organizational meltdown, but to others he is a talented athlete that just needs to either discover himself or to reinvent himself - otherwise an inspired athletic talent will be wasted.
In reality, he is both the black sheep and the seeker, but also has the intestinal fortitude and self confidence to deflect the negativity that comes with either while being able to accept that he's an incomplete product - a trait not lost on Belichick and Kraft.
Also weighing heavily on their minds is what Tebow possibly could bring to this offense should Brady come up lame, which is pretty much what you saw out of him as the starter for the Broncos. Tebow is adept at the read option which, combined with the talent in New England's backfield, could become a punishing ground attack.
No? Consider that the read option is small sample of plays run out of the spread offense, designed for a running quarterback to read the weakside linebacker who, because of the blocking scheme will be left on an island and forced to make a decision - and there really is no correct answer.
The quarterback takes the shotgun snap and reads whether the linebacker is going to crash the line of scrimmage and chase down the running back or whether his key will be on the quarterback. If he holds his ground to take away the quarterback the ball is handed off to the back who follows the wall of blockers, but if he keys on the back and crashes the line, the quarterback keeps the ball and rolls to the spot that the linebacker vacates.
Imagine Vereen in the role behind Tebow, an all around versatile back that hits the hole hard and could also curl inside the linebackers to give the quarterback a short passing option as well. This is not to say that the Patriots would incorporate this into a regular game plan, but if Tebow sticks on the roster, the potential is there and preparation is key.
He's not much down the field, but the play action that he could command with the prowess in the running game could open some things up - so don't sleep on the possibility of seeing Tim Tebow on the 53 man roster unless he completely bombs - and a healthy scratch for almost every game unless he reinvents himself into seeing time as an H-back, an intriguing proposition.
As for Ryan Mallett, there is no intrigue. Everyone knows who he is and why he's here - the only thing we don't know is for how long.
Mallett will get his shot at being a starting quarterback soon, but it won't be with the Patriots. The only drama associated with Ryan Mallett is how high a price a quarterback needy franchise is willing to pay to take the 6' 6", bazooka-armed Mallett off Bill Belichick's hands - but at this point, he's of more value to Belichick backing up Brady.
He stands tall in the pocket, arm cocked - and nothing is off limits to the gunslinger, at least not in his own brain.
At his best, Mallett is a cyborg in a football helmet, because no organic creature could zip the ball at a velocity that the University of Arkansas product can. Lots of dense forested areas in Arkansas, easy to hide time portals or alien bunkers - at his worst, Mallett is a scatter-armed interception machine, but either way, his confidence in his arm will never wain.
So, how much we see Tim Tebow at quarterback this preseason depends on how much more exposure Belichick feels he needs in order to properly market his young pocket passing gunslinger.
Besides, by the time the second pre-season game is complete the team will know what it has in Tebow, and his fate could fall anywhere between a place on the roster and being run out of town on a rail.
Patriots' fans need to brace themselves for the former, because Tim Tebow was signed for a reason - and we're about to find out what that reason is.
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