A lot has been made regarding the future of Tom Brady. The New England Patriots quarterback is certainly on the older end of the NFL age scale, but showing no signs of regression in his skillset. To cover their bases, the Patriots used a second-round draft pick on quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, putting pressure on third-year backup Ryan Mallett. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is not concerned about the media attention on the move, simply focusing on improvement and the season ahead.
McDaniels simply laughed off the idea of Brady's future being in question with two young quarterbacks playing behind it. After Brady himself denied retirement being closer than ever, McDaniels is saying his star player looks better than ever after this recent offseason.
"Yup, I do (believe Brady is improving)," Josh McDaniels said, via MassLive.com. "It's hard for me to ever feel like that wouldn't be the case. Anytime you've got a guy that's really focused on working on all of the weaknesses in his game when there really aren't that many, you can see where they'd be room for growth."
Every member of the coaching staff is denying the idea that Mallett would be traded this season after Garoppolo was drafted. While many believe that the rookie is the future of the Patriots after Brady eventually decides to be done, Mallett will remain with the team for the remainder of his contract. ESPN.com reports that the backup will likely stay the season and then enter free agency with the Patriots unlikely to give him a new deal.
"Everybody was working with everybody. We don't have any units, 1, 2, 3," McDaniels said. "We're really focused on trying to teach our system to players again. There's always new things you're adding, and we want them to be experienced before we go to training camp."
If any of the three quarterbacks are going to be successful, the Patriots needed to improve their wide receiving group. Injuries and offseason issued caused the passing offense to be inconsistent for much of the 2013 season. While the Patriots added some big names to the group, McDaniels is confident that the development of the younger players will prevent any future moves before training camp. Aaron Dobson, Kenbrell Thompkins and Josh Boyce have all come back stronger entering OTAs.
"They're not rookies - you can see that right away," McDaniels said. "Now we're not in Stage 1 anymore, and those guys have kind of hit the ground running. Their minds have slowed down so they can process a lot of information. We can count on them to do things after the snap. It will be exciting to see how far we can go with them."
The Patritos have been linked to trades for Darius Moore and Andre Johnson. They are also looking at adding Jermichael Finley or Dustin Keller in the near future. If the wide receivers continue to look strong, they might not get contract offers.
