Patriots news: New England not considering long-term extension for Tom Brady

The New England Patriots and superstar quarterback Tom Brady may be taking it year-by-year in terms of his contract situation.

New England Patriots star quarterback Tom Brady is set to head into his 19th season in the NFL, which has voiced his desire to continue playing for another five seasons.

Despite this being the case, Ian Rapoport of The NFL Network is reporting that the Patriots are currently not considering hammering out an extension with Brady at this point given that there is no clear picture to how much longer he will play, via Tyler Sullivan 247 Sports.

“I don’t think it was ever a consideration,” he said, via WEEI.com. “To me, a long-term extension was never really in discussion because how much longer does he have left? I know he says he wants to play until he’s 45, everybody says that. I think Brady is the best, probably the best player to ever play, but at some point it will be time. One thing the Patriots do, and you see it every year, is they assess everyone with an open mind at the beginning of training camp. We saw it with Reggie Wayne and Tedy Bruschi and Eric Decker this year, who they were going to release before he retired. You don’t know what kind of player is going to show up until they get to training camp. You don’t know when it is going to be the time when it is like, ‘Alright, this is the end.’

The 41-year-old has continued to reiterate over the last several months that he has a strong desire to play in the league for several more years. However, there isn't a guarantee that he will play out those years due to him being in the back end of his career as injuries could play a factor as well as him experiencing a notable decline in his play on the field.

There are simply too many moving parts for the Patriots to confidently work out a new contract with him given that being the case. Brady is currently under contract for the next two years and just received a potential $5 million raise for the 2018 season if he reaches some incentive marks. This would see him earn $1 million each for finishing in the top five in quarterback rating, top five in completion percentage, top five in yards per attempt, top five in touchdown passes, and top five in passing yards.

New England will likely let the situation play out over the next couple of years before working toward a new deal to keep Brady under contract for however long he intends to extend his career.