What Have You Done For Me Lately?

Excuse me, diehard Patriots fans, lemme holla at you for a minute.

Doesn't it concern you in the slightest that the last Super Bowl win was in 2005? Brady's last MVP trophy was 2010, as was his last All-Pro honor. His yards-per-attempt in 2012 (7.58) was the lowest it has been since 2008. His passing percentage (63 percent) was as low as any year since 2006.

Doesn't it worry you in the least that his passing numbers—while still being fantastic—are being matched in today's pass-first NFL not only by guys like Manning and New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, but also by guys like Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford and rookies like Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson?

This is a league that revolves around the here and now. Please don't try and convince me about Brady's career accomplishments. I agreed when Robert Kraft called Tom Brady a better quarterback than Joe Montana. The question is: Will Brady's career end on a high note?

Now, I don't think Brady is going to pack up shop anytime in the next 12 months, but his retirement might be a lot sooner than it might seem right now.

My colleague Ty Schalter did a fantastic breakdown of NFL positions by age, and he found that quarterbacks peak between 30 and 33 years old. This jives with almost all the other research on the subject. While fans try to pretend that every single quarterback is going to play into his 40s like Brett Favre, that just isn't the case.

When the season starts, Brady will be 36 years old. According to Schalter's research, Brady is in for another dip of production in the next year or two. After that, his career is practically over whether or not he stays on the field.

Ask yourself: If you're Tom Brady—worth hundreds of millions of dollars with a wife who is worth hundreds of millions of dollars—would you keep getting hit on Sunday afternoons? Is it really worth it?

The Patriots' future completely depends upon the way Brady feels every morning from this season to the next. If Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata lands on him the wrong way or if Patriots rookie receiver Aaron Dobson doesn't pan out the way Brady hopes, why continue to subject his body to the kind of punishment that every NFL quarterback receives—even under so-called "Brady rules?"

Again, the question is not whether or not Brady has had a fantastic career—he has. No, the question is, as it always is in today's NFL: Has Brady done anything for us lately? As of right now, the answer is no. He's been great, but he's been overshadowed by plenty of other fantastic quarterbacks.

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