Tom Brady and other former Patriots popular topics as NFL scouting combine commences

Recenty retired — for now — quarterback Tom Brady and others with Patriots connections were popular topics with questions from reporters on the first day of media availability at the NFL scouting combine on Tuesday in Indianapolis.

Bucs GM Jason Licht and coach Bruce Arians were peppered with Brady questions.

"I think with a Tom Brady, I personally, never want to completely close the door," Licht said. "Now, I don’t have any information that suggests that he is going to come back. I’m very good friends with him. We talk, [but] we haven’t talked about that. Don’t want to apply any pressure in that regard right now. But, he’s Tom Brady. If a Tom Brady wants to come back, we’d welcome him back.”

If Brady does want to come back, how does that fit with the team's financials?

"It just depends," Licht said. "We have a little time here right before free agency hits. It depends on what we do in free agency. I’m not saying that we’re, by any means, planning on this happening. I just made a remark this morning that we’ll leave the light on for him.”

Licht said the Bucs were hoping Brady was going to play until he was 50.

“When we signed Tom [Brady] two years ago, none of us knew how long it would be. If it was one year, two years," he said. "I was hoping until he was 50. But, no one really knew. So, not really a total shocking surprise when he’s the type that evaluates everything. [He] continues to evaluate everything. He literally went out on top if he did, in fact, retire. We always took advantage, and never took him for granted.”

Arians took a much more boisterous stance on his Brady questions.

"Oh, that door is never closed. Whenever Tom wants back, he’s back," he said.

Arians said the Bucs won't let Brady play for another team — although that's not really up to him.

“Nope, it’s bad business.”

What could another team offer to get the Bucs to trade him?

“Five No. 1 [picks]? Maybe.”

Arians said that Kyle Trask and Blaine Gabbert are ready to take over for Brady.

“Well, we addressed it last year. We drafted Kyle Trask [in the second round] for a reason," Arians said. "He fits everything we want to do [at the] quarterback [position]. I really, really liked what I saw for a year, so I doubt drafting is an option. For all the other guys, it’s going to be a trade. Well, you don’t trade by yourself – you’ve got to have a partner, so that could be out of the question.

"Oh yeah, I’d be very, very comfortable because they know what they’re doing, and they’ve both shown they can do it. And with our defense, they know what we want out of our quarterback.”

Texans general manager Nick Caserio reflected on Matt Groh, who now has Caserio's old job as Patriots' director of player personnel.

"Matt (Groh) has had a unique background," Caserio said. "I'd say my first recollection of Matt was the year Chris Long came out in the draft. At the time, I think Matt was either helping Al (Groh), or Al was at the University of Virginia at the time. We actually flew in to work Chris out that morning, and Matt picked us up at the airport and drove us to the workout. So, that was kind of my first introduction to Matt.

"But to make the transitional leap from his legal background, which he obviously had a career and certain aspirations, to kind of transition into football, I would say it's fairly rare, but he wasn't opposed to starting in the same role I started in when I was in New England in 2001 as a scouting assistant. Matt is really smart, he works hard, he has a good grasp of players, he has a good understanding of football. He's been around football a long time, whether it was his dad or his brother Mike, he's been around the game and his growth and development is really a credit to his work ethic, his thoughtfulness and his intelligence.

"I think a lot of people in the building in New England have a lot of confidence in Matt and what he's capable of doing. Really happy for him and the opportunity he has in front of him. There's still a lot of great people in that building that I'm close with. Matt is one of them, Cam Williams is another one. He kind of started in the scouting assistant role, he’s taken on some more responsibilities. There's a fair amount of us that have left, but there's still pretty some good ones there, so excited for the opportunity that Matt has in front of him for sure."

Caserio was also asked about the proliferation of former Patriots personnel execs around the league, and how that might affect the talent pool if they're looking for the same players.

"I would say the traits that are important to you in terms of the overall makeup, in terms of the football characteristics, non-physical related, those are the things that we're going to value, how you value players, how you grade players, the system that you use to arrive at that end point, there's probably some similarities," he said. "But in the end, there's 32 different buildings, 32 different ways of building your team. They're going to do the things that they feel make the most sense for their team, we're going to do the same thing on our end."

Caserio did indicate the Patriots' connections could facilitate trade discussions.

"I would say the one thing it does, it certainly opens some dialogue, having discussions, whether it's about players, whether it's about a trade," Caserio said. "You know who you're dealing with on the other end of it. There's a relationship there. What I'm trying to say, football in the end is a relationship business, so the more relationships that you can create over the course of time, whether it's in one building, then they relocate to another building, so it gives you an opportunity to maybe have some dialogue and discussion with some other teams and folks maybe that you didn't as much contact previously.”

OTHER INDY TIDBITS

Licht said he'd meet with Rob Gronkowski's agent in Indy to see where the tight end is.

"Rob just wanted a little time to think about his future," Licht said. "But, once again, he’s another great player at his position. So, I’d be excited if he wanted to come back.”

Caserio on where things stand with QB Deshaun Watson:

"I would say that situation, we've talked about this with our group, we're day to day in terms of handling that. Once the information becomes more relevant or prevalent, then we'll handle it accordingly. My philosophy from the beginning has always been to do the right thing by the Houston Texans organization, and we're going to continue to do that here moving forward.”

Giants coach Brian Daboll, Alabama's former offensive coordinator, on Mac Jones:

“Mac was a good player. Obviously did a really good job this year. Very proud of him, building a relationship a few years back with him and his family and watching him grow, I think he’s got a bright future.”

Licht on Bucs free agent and injured WR Chris Godwin:

“From what I understand, his rehab is going well. He’s been a special player, as well, for us. He’s really overachieved in relation to where he was drafted and where we got him. It’s hard to imagine a Buccaneers’ offense without Chris Godwin, and we would love to have him back. We’ll continue to try and work towards that.”

Bills GM Brandon Beane on CBs Levi Wallace (free agent) and Tre'Davious White (injury)

It's not necessarily the draft, but we definitely have to look at that. Levi is a free agent. Tre's coming off the ACL. He's on schedule, doing a great job, he's there every day working hard, competing the way you guys see him compete in practice. But we'll definitely monitor Levi's situation and we'll look for depth in free agency, if we lose them. But we'll look for it anyway. We're always looking for competition. And then we're definitely going to evaluate the corners here and try and get to know them through this process.

Guess the Patriots' defensive coaches aren't currently in Indy because they were all at BC today.