This offseason sure has had a different feel to it than any other in the last 17 years. Yes, there was always turnover, interesting moves that surprised us all, but the holy duo of Belichick and Brady were always secure and that meant that the Patriots were basically secure.
Now, after a year with plenty of rumblings about off-field problems, we still don’t know if Brady or Gronk are fully in for the 2018 season and that uncertainty is splitting Patriots fans down the middle even as they prepare for what should be an exciting couple of weeks featuring the release of the schedule and the draft.
Patriots’ QB Tom Brady still has not committed to playing in 2018, even though people who know him believe he will back coming season, league sources told ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 18, 2018
There are so many camps right now within Patriots Nation. There’s those still furious and waiting for an explanation from Belichick about why he benched Malcolm Butler in the Super Bowl. There are those who are frustrated with Brady and Gronk for dragging this stuff out well into the offseason as we’re staring down the barrel of 2018. And then there are those outside of New England, content to watch it all finally burn to the ground.
I also know there are plenty out there who think it’s all “fake news”, that this is all media-driven and everything will be a-okay when the opening game comes around, with Brady throwing touchdowns to Gronk then both high-fiving Belichick as they begin another campaign for title number six. As a faithful blogger of the team I’ve been a big “Ignore the Noise” kind of guy, but there’s too much noise this time to believe it’s all a total fabrication, especially when reports are coming both locally and nationally.
There’s too much smoke for there not to be some kind of fire and now the million dollar question is can that fire be put out in time for another run in 2018?
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