The Quest for 7: Brady perspective, Gronk at it ... again, The next Trey Flowers? Links 2.10.20

Morning! Welcome to The Quest for 7, where volunteer writer, Steven Viner, scours the net for seven Patriots related articles from other sites offering different points of view on the six-time champs. Paid subscribers not only get to read all seven, but they also get to check out his always fiery "Steve's Soapbox" at the end.

1. Due to Tom Brady being Jurassic as far as football age, there are not many lessons in history to tell us where this is going to go. But have no fear! Leave it to Boston Sports Journal owner, Greg Bedard, to find two similar situations in his column, Will lessons from Peyton Manning, Brett Favre help or hurt Tom Brady vs. Patriots? Bedard also touches on the XFL, which seems to be off to a promising start.

2. Many believe that Robert Kraft interjected back when it was time for Bill Belichick to you-know-what or get off the pot as far as moving on from Brady or Jimmy Garoppolo. Timothy Rapp of Bleacher Report gives us the scoop that this time, Kraft will not interfere with Belichick's decision on whether to bring Brady back or not. I get it. The GOAT coach has better odds of sticking around and helping the franchise longer than the GOAT quarterback, but it doesn't mean I have to like it.

3. This is great to hear, but let's face it, Dereck Rivers might be running out of chances faster than Antonio Brown, (for different reasons obviously.) Mike Reiss of ESPN updates us on the often injured Rivers and how he is taking Belichick's "No days off!" motto pretty serious this offseason. Still, "if" — I know how big that small word can be — Rivers can stay healthy and take a Trey Flowers route to success, this could be a sizable and inexpensive boost to the Patriots defense.

4. Mike Dussault of Patriots.com put together this gem for New England fans. Send the link of this sucker to all of your fellow Patriot backers and make their day when they relive the 20 greatest moments in Patriots Super Bowl history. There are some painful lumps to start, but man, it's easy to forget how many great moments of biblical proportions us blessed fans have shared.

5. Not my thing, but that doesn't mean some of you aren't intrigued. Jordan Heck of Sporting News puts together all of the helpful short videos that explain the drastically different rules in the XFL. Definitely some interesting ideas here, and it certainly feels like this has a much better shot at outlasting the old XFL.

6. So this is a bit different. WalterFootball.com gives us three potential picks for each team in the first round and the percentages of each selection in their 2020 NFL mock draft. There's also a round 2 to check out, but unfortunately, the Patriots traded that selection away for Two-Drops Sanu.

7. At this rate, if the Gronkosaurus comes back to Foxboro, he might get greeted with a round of boos and hisses. Like the drunk guy who takes an awkward joke too far, then extends it an extra minute until the sober friend comes over to escort the drunk away, Doug Kyed of NESN touches on Rob Gronkowski's latest tease and if he's serious about a return, or still just trolling? Gronk ... Finger-to-lips emoji.

STEVE'S SOAPBOX

The place where Steve gets to give his take of the day from the perspective of a Patriots fan.

The Patriots need Tom Brady answers right bleeping now, not in mid-March. There are a thousand TB12 rumors every day and it’s getting more annoying than Tatum giving refs the stink-eye after every shot. The one I’m concerned most with is Brady being dead set on testing free agency. If this is true, the Patriots will get B-Slapped with an extra 6.75 million in dead cap space, even if Brady returns to the Patriots after the March 17^th deadline. If GOAT tears were falling behind the scenes about porous weapons last year, wait until he sees what Belichick gives him when the team has 13.5 million less cap space instead of 6.75.

What New England needs to do is simple. Ask Brady what it will take to re-sign now, and if Kraft and Belichick don’t agree with what he wants, or if Tom says, “I want to see what other teams have to offer before giving you a number,” then let him go on his shower-me-with-love tour immediately. Like ... today! That 6.75 mill is crucial if Brady comes back. Another benefit, it also allows the Patriots to start planning for the "next guy," a month earlier if Brady bolts. Let's end the speculation being thrown around by every reporter of where he’s going in two weeks, instead of two months. Rip the band-aid off and help all of us Patriots fan’s sanity.

Be on the lookout for more The Quest for 7 features. Want extra Salty Tears and Soapbox? Click on my name above and scroll down for previous Quests!