Salary Cap Rule Means Tom Brady Should Re-Sign With Patriots Before NFL League Year Begins if He Returns at All

The first major domino in the Tom Brady sweepstakes fell on Sunday afternoon, as the Tennessee Titans re-signed quarterback Ryan Tannehill to a huge four-year contract extension. Before that transaction, reports suggested that the Titans had "no interest" in pursuing Brady, but only now can we completely rule out the possibility.

Indications increasingly point to Brady returning to the New England Patriots after all. But if he wants to do so, he better do it shortly. If TB12 were to re-sign after the start of the new league year this Wednesday, he'd carry a dead cap hit of $13.5 million -- but if he were to do so before Wednesday, the six-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback would only carry a $6.75 million hit, as insider Ryan Hannable notes.

That means more money could be spent on giving him a weapon on offense, a significant consideration for Bill Belichick and the Pats.

Brady's list of suitors is rather short now that the Titans are out of the pictue. Chris Simms of NBC Sports reported that the San Francisco 49ers also turned down the chance to chase Brady, leaving just the Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the lone interested teams known to the public.

Tampa does have a slight advantage, as they already have top-tier weapons in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin under contract for 2020. As stressed ad nauseam, the Patriots and Brady both struggled last season in offensive production. Besides Julian Edelman, Brady had no quality options to throw to, as the Mohamed Sanu trade turned out to be a flop and rookie N'Keal Harry never caught on due to an injury. (And don't make us bother mentioning Antonio Brown.)

The only way the Patriots can bring Brady back is if they supply him with quality targets on the offense. In order for them to do that, Brady must reach an agreement before Wednesday to ensure they have the funds to make a run at top targets on the open market. It's as simple as that.