What if the Detroit Lions actually signed Tom Brady

Hello Tom, goodbye Matthew

Now let me start by being clear; I do not believe that Tom Brady will sign with the Detroit Lions. Period. So any speculation is merely speculation. However, the point that Brady is familiar with Matt Patricia from his days in New England does create a teeny, tiny sliver of a possibility.

I still don’t think it will happen. But if it did, that would cause even more urgency for the Lions’ offseason plans. Or at the very least, it should, because if Quinn and Patricia couldn’t win with Brady, then it would cause a stigma about both of them they would never be able to live down. This would be about more than just saving their current jobs, it would be about keeping the door open for future jobs as well.

Now let’s start with the fact that this town isn’t big enough for both Tom Brady and Matthew Stafford, which means signing Brady would mean farewell to Stafford.

Matt Patricia has had nothing but praise for Stafford, but if he was to decide that Brady would help him ‘win now’ to fulfill the mandate that Martha Firestone Ford has given to Patricia and Bob Quinn, then they would most certainly explore trade options.

Matthew isn’t a spring chicken, but as long as his back is able to get a clean bill of health from the doctors he would become a very moveable commodity. Stafford is coming off a very good season, is known around the league as a great team guy and works as hard as anyone else in the game.

All told, dealing Matthew wouldn’t be particularly hard unless Bob Quinn decided to dig in his heels and demand too much for the Lions all-time leading passer.

Yet once the dirty work of sending Matthew packing was completed, then would begin the process of settling Brady in. Tom has played for some outstanding teams in New England, but he had almost nothing to work with this year.

While the Patriot defense was dynamite, the offense was not. The line did little to protect him, the ground game was spotty and the lack of receiving talent was egregious. Now the Lions do need more talent themselves, but the offensive line is serviceable in pass protection, the ground game has shown some promise and the Lions actually have talented receivers to throw the ball to.

Including what will be second-year tight end T.J. Hockenson next season. He’s not Gronk, but he’s very talented and should take a big step forward in his sophomore campaign. You could certainly expect that Brady would know what to do with him.

In essence, with Brady at the wheel, the Lions offense should be very productive and the team would have a fiery leader to spur them on.