Tom Brady did the math and decided on a successful future to extend his glory: the weighted scale from 1 to 3

Tom Brady isn’t known for making rash decisions. When the quarterback found himself a free agent in 2020 after two decades in New England, he didn’t rely on gut instinct or nostalgia. He built a system, as he explained in a recent newsletter.

“What I ended up with was a list of about 20 things that I then ranked and graded on a weighted scale from 1 to 3,” Brady explained. Every factor, from offensive weapons to weather conditions, received a score based on importance. Some, like skill players and the head coach, were a top priority.

Money gets low weighting for Tom Brady

“The presence of skill players was a 3 in terms of importance, for example, and the Bucs graded out as a 3 because of guys like Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. The same was true for the head coach. That was a 3 in importance, and Tampa scored a 3 with Bruce Arians.”

Brady also said that other considerations mattered but didn’t tip the scales in the same way.

“Game day weather was a 2, practice weather was a 3. Financial compensation was on the list, obviously, but it wasn’t first, it probably wasn’t even top 10, and it definitely didn’t rank as a 3 in importance.”

I suppose money matters less when it’s all in the multi-millions.

Why Tampa Bay won out for Brady

The process was cold, calculated, and, ultimately, effective.

“In the end, I chose Tampa, almost exactly five years ago now, because, in the aggregate, it graded out higher than New England along those twenty or so dimensions. It’s not much more complicated than that.”

And it worked. Brady won a Super Bowl in his first season with the Buccaneers and added two more division titles before retiring. The Patriots, meanwhile, have struggled to find a replacement, cycling through quarterbacks and head coaches while trying to recapture past success.

Brady’s move wasn’t about money, loyalty, or sentimentality. It was about maximizing his last years in the league... and it’s fair to say it worked out quite well.

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