Andy Baskin makes argument for going all in on Tom Brady

On 92.3’s Baskin and Phelps, Andy Baskin asked the fans if they’d want Tom Brady IF it meant a guaranteed playoff birth, which is wholly problematic.

This isn’t a surprise that someone would pitch this, so when listening to Baskin and Phelps on my way to get lunch, Baskin proposed a scenario and asked the fans to give their take. The scenario was would you sign Tom Brady if you knew you’d make the playoffs? To be clear, this is like saying ‘would you take this medicine in order not to die’.

The answer would almost always be yes. Why wouldn’t you? By asking this slanted question and proposing it like it’s a win-win situation, Baskin will get more and more people agreeing with the idea, simply because it doesn’t have any negatives presented.

Phelps, on the other hand, wasn’t having it, and flat out said he wouldn’t want Brady because, in his opinion, the team is already a playoff team (eehhh…..), Brady’s numbers have declined and Brady is going to be 43. Obviously this wasn’t what Basking wanted to hear and the segment fizzled from there.

The fans though gave the radio host exactly what he wanted. So many people called in and said yes. “I’ve been a fan since I was four and blah blah blah and playoffs!” That was usually the sentiment. This dogged desire to blow up a foundation for one or two years is foolish and fundamentally stupid.

It’s also something Cleveland fans demand every year a team gets mildly close to success. The Cleveland Cavaliers blew up their team time and time again to give LeBron James veterans who rarely ever helped any and traded off countless young players and draft picks to give him his guys.

Now fans want the Browns to follow that same shortsighted ideology. Instead of building for 10, 15 or even 20 years of success, the fans want so badly to be in the playoffs that they’d sell out potential for an all-time great who’s no longer very good. Fans need to get away from this desperation. It’s problematic for a club to invest so much in someone so old. If Brady was 25, or even 30, sure, have that discussion. He’s not. He’s 43.

The idea that fans actually would buy this is exactly the issue with fandom as a whole. It is fundamentally problematic and only harms the future of the organization and it doesn’t even offer any guarantees. You may not like Baker Mayfield, but Mayfield has more touchdowns in two years than any Browns quarterback has thrown in 20 years.

Mayfield, statistically speaking is the best quarterback since Brian Sipe. Have you all forgotten about the last 20 years? At least Mayfield can hit the endzone 20 times a  year. That’s better than…well everyone else we’ve had since 1999. Yet fans want to get rid of him for a 40-something-year-old with declining stats? Obviously some of you can’t stand Mayfield but are you really that naive to think that Brady is the way to go?

He’s not.

I’d be surprised if Brady ever makes the playoffs again if he leaves New England.

We’ll see.