2020 NFL Free Agents: Latest Rumors, Predictions After Wild Card Round

Wild Card Weekend has concluded, and it was a doozy.

While fans of teams like the Texans, Titans and Vikings are likely enjoying their good fortune, fans of the Bills, Patriots and Saints are turning their focus toward the free-agent rumor mill.

Much of the offseason gossip circulating now concerns potential coaching hires, but there are some bits about free agency and, specifically, the potentially league-changing quarterback market.

Some longstanding icons of particular teams are free agents, and they could alter the league with their decisions.

Brady not a sure bet to return

Of course, as soon as the Patriots lost Saturday night, the immediate topic of conversation turned not to the Titans' great performance, but to the future of Tom Brady's NFL career. Will he retire? If he doesn't retire, will he stay with New England?

ESPN's Adam Schefter tweeted out two comments from the 42-year-old. The first one was "Who knows what the future holds? We'll leave it at that," while the second post was that it's "pretty unlikely" Brady will retire this offseason. 

After years of taking below-market contracts in order for the Patriots to maintain their dynasty, Fox's Jay Glazer reported Brady will now refuse a hometown discount and finally wants to be paid his full worth. 

Perhaps it's unwise to try to connect dots here, but the most likely scenario seems to be that Brady is in the NFL next season for a team that is not the New England Patriots.

His cryptic first comment plus Glazer's report make it seem like the veteran will drive quite a hard bargain this offseason with the Pats, and given Bill Belichick's reputation for severing ties with players a year early rather than a year late, it seems more likely Brady will not be a Patriot for life. 

Brees will be back

Speaking of all-time great quarterbacks, Drew Brees is on the opposite end of the free-agent spectrum from Brady.

Per NFL Media's Ian Rapoport, the 40-year-old is also unlikely to retire and appears very willing to work out another short-term deal to stay in New Orleans. 

Though he posted a career-best passer rating, this season wasn't the greatest for Brees, as he missed nearly eight games with a thumb injury, had essentially only two NFL-quality pass-catchers and lost in the first round of the playoffs.

Rapoport stated in his report that even if Brees won the Super Bowl this year, he'd want to return, so yet another playoff loss will only further his motivation to come back to extend his all-time record of career touchdown passes (his 547 are six more than Brady) and win a second Vince Lombardi Trophy. 

Given the success of Teddy Bridgewater in Brees' stead earlier this year, there's a small chance the Saints decide to move on from the veteran, even with his willingness to return. But don't bet on that. 

Titans want to extend Tannehill

Also per Rapoport, the Tennessee Titans plan on keeping standout quarterback Ryan Tannehill around for the near term, whether it's through the much-ballyhooed franchise tag or a legitimate contract extension. 

It might have seemed like just a hot streak in the regular season when the 31-year-old led the NFL in passer rating and yards per attempt (while the Titans went 7-3 in his starts), but after the stunning playoff win over the Patriots, the former Dolphins quarterback is starting to show his improvement might be sustainable. 

Last offseason, most teams would have stuck with a quarterback like Marcus Mariota for the final year on his rookie deal and then gone into this year looking to draft a franchise QB or find a new one in free agency.

In trying to challenge Mariota to improve, general manager Jon Robinson traded for Tannehill last March. 

Little did anyone know that with offensive weapons such as Derrick Henry, A.J. Brown and Corey Davis, Tannehill would leap from mediocre NFL starter to an above-average quarterback and one the Titans can lean on for the foreseeable future.