TEAM TALK
- Paul Perillo, Erik Scalavino & Mike Dussault present their 2019 Lighthouse Awards.
- Patriots Unfiltered 1/9: Offseason burning questions, free agent preview and divisional playoff picks. (2 hours)
LOCAL LINKS
- Evan Lazar gives his Offseason Game Plan: Setting the Pats priorities and biggest needs.
- DJ Bean says that now is when ‘In Bill Belichick we trust’ gets put to the test.
- Mark Daniels does a good job comparing the talent surrounding Tom Brady in 2018 and 2019, and says the front office needs to do a better job of surrounding its quarterback with more reliable talent.
- Tom E. Curran lays out why he believes the impasse between Tom Brady and the Patriots is almost impossible to solve.
- Matt Cassel gives us his opinion on why he thinks Tom Brady will be back with the Patriots in 2020.
- Hayden Bird breaks down four questions about Tom Brady’s future.
- Zack Cox explores a Tom Brady-to-Chargers scenario: Why it makes sense and why it doesn’t.
- Nick O’Malley explains the convoluted answer to why Andy Dalton’s name keeps coming up as a Brady replacement.
- Mike Cole highlights Adam Schefter on his belief that Tom Brady’s top free-agent options will come out of nowhere.
- Eric Wilbur feels Tom Brady staying with the Patriots is a dangerous relationship, and he has no stomach for going through ‘this whole charade once again a year from now.’
- Will Noltie (LastWordOnSports) Let’s stop this talk of Tom Brady to the Los Angeles Chargers.
- Michael Hurley says Tom Brady wearing another team’s jersey would shake up Boston sports in a way never before seen.
- Joy Manning (BostonSportsChick) Why you need to lay off Bill Belichick the GM. /“Lay off” as in cut the guy a break, not give him a pink slip.
- Isaiah Houde (PatriotsWire) These stories about Tom Brady, Julian Edelman convey their insane work ethic.
- Doug Kyed addresses his Friday Patriots Mailbag: Should Tom Brady change offseason plan if he returns?
- Michael Hurley makes his picks: There’s a lot to like about divisional weekend.
- Locked On Patriots podcast: Mike D’Abate opens the season-final Locked On Patriots Mailbag for 2019. (25 min.)
NATIONAL NEWS
- Danny Heifetz (The Ringer) The keys to the NFL divisional round: It’s a passing league, so why are the remaining teams so good at rushing?
- Terez Paylor (Yahoo! Sports) Things I noticed: Drew Brees isn’t washed, so stop it; Patriots deserved to lose their wild-card game for two reasons; More.
- Bucky Brooks (NFL.com) NFL Notebook: Pats should let Brady walk; the Joe Judge effect; DK Metcalf.
- Albert Breer (SI) The economic realities of paying a star quarterback—and how it relates to the NFL playoffs.
- Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Dead money complicates Tom Brady’s negotiations with Patriots (if there are any).
- Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Saints have a $21.3 million cap charge looming for Drew Brees. /Well, well... finally a story about Drew Brees.
- Bill Barnwell (ESPN) Predicting roster turnover for all 12 NFL playoff teams: Which players could move.
- Dan Wetzel (Yahoo! Sports) How to fix the NFL’s flawed overtime rules. /Still upset ‘a coin flip’ caused Patrick Mahomes to be eliminated without even seeing the field in OT (◔_◔).
- Josh Alper (ProFootballTalk) Browns interviewing Josh McDaniels Friday, no other interviews on tap.
- Ryan Hannable reports Joe Judge aces his opening press conference as Giants head coach.
- Tom Rock (Newsday) Bill Belichick’s endorsement of Joe Judge made John Mara take notice.
- Marcel Louis-Jacques (ESPN) NFL probing Bills’ injury reporting on DE Jerry Hughes.
- Carlos Monarrez (USA Today) If Detroit Lions trade No. 3 pick in NFL draft, here’s what they could get in Tua Tagovailoa sweepstakes: No. 5 from Miami, No. 6 from LAC, No. 7 from Carolina
- Charles Robinson (Yahoo! Sports) Miami Super Bowl could mark end of paper tickets for big game, start of NFL collecting data on every attending fan.
- Maury Brown (Forbes) These are the top sports business Twitter accounts to follow In 2020.
- MMQB Staff (SI) NFL divisional round picks.
- Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) PFT’s divisional round picks.
- Gregg Rosenthal (NFL.com) NFL divisional round game picks.