The Patriots and Tom Brady are mulling whether to re-up for another season – how much they’re worth to each other. While his skills are declining, one factor to keep in mind is his ability to take care of the ball.
Brady isn’t the player he once was; his arm has declined. But he’s still got the smarts, with the ability to avoid interceptions, sacks and fumbles. The Patriots turned the ball over only 15 times last year, helping them finish a league-best plus-21 in takeaway ratio last year.
That’s really been the case all along with Brady. In his 19 years as a starter, the Patriots have finished at least plus-5 in takeaways in all but two seasons, and both were in his early years (2002 and 2005).
| NEW ENGLAND TURNOVER RATIO WITH TOM BRADY | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Int | Fum | Tot | Take | Diff | W-L |
| 2001 | 15 | 13 | 28 | 35 | +7 | 11-5 |
| 2002 | 14 | 10 | 24 | 29 | +5 | 9-7 |
| 2003 | 13 | 11 | 24 | 41 | +17 | 14-2 |
| 2004 | 14 | 13 | 27 | 36 | +9 | 14-2 |
| 2005 | 15 | 9 | 24 | 18 | • -6 | 10-6 |
| 2006 | 12 | 15 | 27 | 35 | +8 | 12-4 |
| 2007 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 31 | +16 | 16-0 |
| 2008 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 22 | +1 | 11-5 |
| 2009 | 13 | 9 | 22 | 28 | +6 | 10-6 |
| 2010 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 38 | +28 | 14-2 |
| 2011 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 34 | +17 | 13-3 |
| 2012 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 41 | +25 | 12-4 |
| 2013 | 11 | 9 | 20 | 29 | +9 | 12-4 |
| 2014 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 25 | +12 | 12-4 |
| 2015 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 21 | +7 | 12-4 |
| 2016 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 23 | +12 | 14-2 |
| 2017 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 18 | +6 | 13-3 |
| 2018 | 11 | 7 | 18 | 28 | +10 | 11-5 |
| 2019 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 36 | +21 | 12-4 |
With Brady taking care of the ball and one of the league’s most opportunistic defenses, the Patriots have 148 more takeaways than turnovers over the last 10 years. That’s twice as good as any other team.
(Two other teams with standout quarterbacks – Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers – are the two teams coming in at about half as good as New England in this area over the just-completed decade.)
| TURNOVER RATIO (last 10 yr) | |
|---|---|
| Team | +/- |
| New England | 148 |
| Seattle | 74 |
| Green Bay | 73 |
| Kansas City | 60 |
| Atlanta | 31 |
| Baltimore | 30 |
| San Francisco | 29 |
| Chicago | 14 |
| LA Rams | 13 |
| Carolina | 12 |
| Houston | 10 |
| New Orleans | 8 |
| Buffalo | 1 |
| Minnesota | -2 |
| Pittsburgh | -8 |
| Dallas | -11 |
| Cincinnati | -11 |
| Washington | -13 |
| Detroit | -13 |
| NY Giants | -18 |
| Arizona | -20 |
| Indianapolis | -21 |
| Philadelphia | -23 |
| LA Chargers | -25 |
| Denver | -29 |
| Tennessee | -30 |
| Tampa Bay | -37 |
| Oakland | -38 |
| Miami | -38 |
| Cleveland | -49 |
| Jacksonville | -54 |
| NY Jets | -68 |
I don’t know that Brady is quite good enough to go to another city and elevate a lesser team. His highest value, I think, is to go back to New England and try to cobble together one last championship run. My expectation is that he and the Patriots will ultimately reach the same conclusion.
—Ian Allan