LOCAL LINKS
- Mike Reiss shares some quick-hit weekend thoughts: David Andrews has good reason to pull for Titans; Patriots have option decision to make on Jason McCourty; More.
- Steve Balestrieri (PatsFans) Sunday Patriots news, AFC East notes: Belichick’s staff has been raided a lot; Curious timing of the Aaron Hernandez Netflix series release; More.
- Ryan Hannable’s Sunday 7: Where do Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo stack up in NFL QB rankings?
- Phil Perry’s Patriots 2020 NFL free agency primer: Where does offensive line go from here?
- Henry McKenna (PatriotsWire) Tom Brady’s looming decision could stall the Patriots’ plans for 2020. /Nah...
- Zack Cox explores the Tom Brady-to-Broncos, Tom Brady-to-Bears and Tom Brady-to-Patriots scenarios: Why they make sense and why they don’t.
- Tom E. Curran revisits the Jimmy Garoppolo trade, reminds people that “you know the Patriots had no recourse with Garoppolo.”
- Doug Kyed also reviews the Patriots’ decision to trade Jimmy Garoppolo to the 49ers. “Garoppolo would have cost $23 million on a franchise tag. That means the Patriots would have had to just subtract $23 million worth of players from a Super Bowl-winning roster. That results in a roster that’s no longer winning a Super Bowl.”
- David Latham (LastWordOnSports) Choosing Tom Brady over Jimmy Garoppolo still the correct decision.
- Ryan Hannable explains what the Patriots got in return for Jimmy Garoppolo.
- Christopher Mason notes Jimmy Garoppolo says “Tom Brady taught me to ‘be the eye of the storm.’”
- Mike Reiss highlights Tom Brady’s interview with Jim Gray of Westwood One, expressing his willingness to embrace whatever the future brings.
- Ryan Hannable notes Tom Brady attended the Conor McGregor UFC fight, received a big ovation from the crowd; UFC president Dana White says Brady will play in Vegas if not New England.
- Trevor Hass reports Jarrett Stidham said learning from Tom Brady this season was ‘priceless.’ “The way he approaches things, his work ethic is unbelievable.”
- Mike Reiss hears from backup QB Jarrett Stidham who, despite being the player likely most affected by Tom Brady’s upcoming decision in free agency, said he’s just focused on getting better.
- Mike Quilty (BelieveInBostonSports) Tom vs Truth: Debunking every theory and myth.
- Phil Perry says the the Patriots will have an opportunity to replace future Hall of Famer Rob Gronkowski with the son of another HOFer, as LSU TE Thaddeus Moss declares for the draft.
- Ryan Hannable passes along a report that former Patriots WR coach Chad O’Shea is headed to Cleveland.
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Abigail Adams reminds us that Sunday marked the anniversary of the Patriots and Raiders playing the
infamous ‘Tuck Rule Game.’ incredible ‘Snow Bowl’ game. /FIFY - Locked On Patriots podcast: Mike D’Abate talks Brady, Thuney Championship weekend with Thomas Murphy (38 min.)
NATIONAL NEWS
- Gary Gramling (SI) NFL Conference Championships takeaways: Patrick Mahomes is invincible, Niners run game blows minds, Chiefs look poised to rule the AFC, well, pretty much forever.
- Albert Breer (SI) Monday Morning QB: Super Bowl LIV is set, thanks to an intense—but rffective—pep talk from Kyle Shanahan and a classic Patrick Mahomes performance.
- Peter King (ProFootballTalk) Championship weekend FMIA: Patrick Mahomes is ‘the whole package,’ running Chiefs into Super Bowl LIV to meet 49ers.
- Nate Davis (USA Today) 32 things we learned heading into Super Bowl LIV: 7. Super Bowl LIV also represents a redemptive opportunity for Kyle Shanahan, the target of significant criticism after the Atlanta Falcons — he was their offensive coordinator — infamously fumbled a 28-3 advantage to the Patriots in Super Bowl LI, Shanahan’s final game before getting his current job.
- Rodger Sherman (The Ringer) The winners and losers of the conference championship games: The comeback Chiefs are headed to the Super Bowl, as is Jimmy game-manager. Rob Lowe just wants a good game.
- Nancy Armour (USA Today) NFL wraps up celebration of first 100 years with Super Bowl featuring its future.
- Kevin Cole (Pro Football Focus) Is 2020 the last hurrah for the quarterback old guard? /(◔_◔)
- Jeffri Chadiha (NFL.com) Learning the hard way: Heartbreak fuels Chiefs to Super Bowl LIV. “When Kansas City lost to the New England Patriots in last year’s AFC title game — largely because of an offside call that nullified a potential game-clinching interception and an abysmal defense that couldn’t stifle Tom Brady in overtime — the Chiefs committed themselves to becoming stronger on that side of the football.”
- Sean Gregory (Time) Patrick Mahomes is headed for NFL iconic status at Super Bowl LIV—unless the 49ers sterling defense can contain Mahomes and his magic.
- Kevin Patra (NFL.com) Jimmy Garoppolo throws only eight passes vs. Packers.
- Conor Orr (SI) Aaron Rodgers is running out of chances, but remains positive. /Media is running out of infatuation, now with young crop of exciting QBs in the house.
- Ben Spratt (Sporting News) Aging Aaron Rodgers insists Super Bowl window still open for Packers. /See what I mean?
- Charles Robinson (Yahoo! Sports) After a crushing NFC title defeat, the Green Bay Packers have to face some facts with an aging Aaron Rodgers. /lols.
- Darin Gantt (ProFootballTalk) Derrick Henry will cry first, worry about contract later.
- W. James Antle III (The Week) The Patriots only have one option. “A 49ers win this weekend would cement the narrative that Belichick should have ignored Kraft and traded Brady instead... Mahomes had already ended Brady’s stint as the last elite quarterback standing in the AFC.” /just... wow.
- Jenna West (SI) Report: Tom Brady ‘prepared’ to meet with other teams in free agency.
- Mike Rosenstein (NJ.com) NFL rumors: More signs Patriots’ Tom Brady’s days in New England are done. /Cites Gary Tanguay and ‘For The Win’ as sources... Puh-leeze.
- Oliver Thomas (Forbes) Through two seasons, Patriots’ J.C. Jackson leads 2018 NFL rookie class in interceptions.
- David Scott (ESPN Front Row) With end of Patriots AFC title game streak, NFL Nation’s Reiss has some down time.
- Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Ben Watson claims he played with torn Achilles in 2019. “Maybe it was partially torn, not fully torn. Even then, it’s hard to imagine Watson not appearing on the injury report, disclosed at a minimum that he fully participated in practice.”
- Josh Edwards (CBS Sports) 2020 NFL Draft order.
- Michael Baca (NFL.com) Romeo Crennel not expected to return as Texans DC.
- Elliot Harrison (NFL.com) The 10 greatest Super Bowls in NFL history that never happened. (10 min. video)
- Kevin Seifert (ESPN) What really happened during deflategate? Five years later, the NFL’s ‘scandal’ aged poorly.