New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady may finally be in decline, and the decline has been so severe that he may not earn any of his contract incentives this season, according to Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk.

Brady's contract for this year was set to pay him $1 million each for passing yards, passing touchdowns, passer rating, completion percentage and yards per attempt if he finished in the top five in any of those categories.

Normally, you would expect Brady to have a shot at earning all $5 million, but instead, it doesn't look like he is going to finish in the top five in any one of those numbers, which is a stunning development.

Of course, Brady is 41 years old, so Father Time dictates that a dropoff was coming, but we just don't see this type of production from Brady, so we aren't used to it.

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It's not like Brady has had a bad year. He has thrown for 4,105 yards, 25 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions while completing 65.4 percent of his passes and registering a passer rating of 95.4. It's just that this is not the Brady we have become accustomed to seeing.

Last week's game against the Buffalo Bills was particularly dreadful for the five-time Super Bowl winner, as he completed just 13 of his 24 passes for 126 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions, finishing with an abysmal passer rating of 48.3.

Still, in spite of Brady's lackluster performance this season, the Patriots can nail down a first-round bye with a win over the New York Jets on Sunday.