NBCSports.com Report: Tom Brady may miss 2009 season

December 29, 1:10 AMNew England Patriots ExaminerSean Crowe

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Brady may miss next season as well...

According to NBCSports.com’s Tom E. Curran, there's a chance Tom Brady may miss the entire 2009 season.

According to Curran’s sources, Tom Brady's recovery is way behind schedule. In fact, he could be facing a second surgery. If he opts for the surgery, it’ll likely cost him his entire 2009 season.

If he opts against it, he’ll have to play with a brace and risks another blowout.

So, what does this mean?

Before we all go crazy, nobody has this scoop except for Tom Curran. Not that I doubt him, but I’d wait for someone else to confirm the story before I got too worried.

If it turns out to be true, it almost assures that the Patriots will franchise Matt Cassel. The Patriots are about $22 million under the cap next season. They can afford to put $12-$14 million more on the cap and still survive for a year.

They’ll also have five picks in the first three rounds of the draft. So they can fill holes through the draft instead of free agency, which is a far more cap friendly approach.

Or the Patriots might decide that they can live with this year’s third round pick, Kevin O’Connell. Or they may opt to go the free agent route. 

No matter how you slice it, this is bad news. I love what Matt Cassel did, but Brady is a legend. I was looking forward to his healthy return.

If Tom E. Curran is right, I’ll have to wait another year. That’s not a wait I’m looking forward to.
 

Sean Crowe is the New England Patriots Examiner. You can email him at scrowe@gmail.com. Check out some of his other work on his blog.