Tom Brady’s Agent Says He’ll Return For 2018 Season

Tom Brady‘s agent, Don Yee, confirmed to Adam Schefter that he expects his client to return for the 2018 season.

“Tom’s intentions have not changed,” Yee said Monday. “He’s consistently said he’ll play beyond this contract and into his mid 40s, or until he feels he isn’t playing at a championship level. I understand the constant speculation, but this is one point he’s been firm about.”

Last week, multiple sources told Schefter that they believe Brady would return for the 2018 season, but didn’t know for sure whether he would be back.

In fact, one of Schefter’s sources estimated that there was a “75 percent” chance that Brady would be back.

Yee added that his client is still training every day in preparation for the 2018 season.

“He customizes his preparation to each season in order to maximize his performance,” Yee said. “His training methods are always evolving and getting better. The year he missed the first four games — that month of training on his own was particularly efficient.”

Regarding his contract, Yee said: “His objective every year is to outperform his contract and his own goals. And like every player, yes, he thinks about his contract — it’s a pretty natural thing to do. Every team’s management knows this.”

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, citing a source with knowledge of the situation, reported Sunday that the Patriots expect both Brady and TE Rob Gronkowski to play in 2018. However, Florio says that is still lingering frustration between Patriots’ players including Brady and Gronkowski regarding the team’s surprising decision to bench CB Malcolm Butler for the Super Bowl.

Brady, 40, is a former sixth-round pick of the Patriots back in 2000. He signed a two-year, $41 million contract extension with the Patriots back in 2016, which included a $28 million signing bonus. Brady stands to make a base salary of just $15 million in both 2018 and 2019.

In 2017, Brady appeared in all 16 games for the Patriots and threw for 4,577 yards while completing 66.3 percent of his passes to go along with 32 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 1 quarterback out of 39 qualifying players.

We’ll have more regarding Brady as the news is available.