Safety Patrick Chung is under contract with the New England Patriots for the 2020 season. Fellow safety and special teams standout Nate Ebner is not under contract with the Patriots but wants to be back with the team this fall. However, the possibility exists that if they are both back with the team for the upcoming year, they may no longer have Tom Brady as a teammate.
Brady is set to hit the free agent market next month and there is a non-zero chance that process will result in the Patriots legend taking his first snaps for a team located outside of New England in 20 years in the NFL.
While it could be a jarring sight to see Brady playing elsewhere next year, Chung knows it’s a possibility that is out of his hands.
“(It’s) not weird,” Chung said, via Zack Cox of NESN.com. “It’s just something we can’t control, and we can’t worry about things we can’t control. He’s a grown man. He can do whatever he wants to make sure his family and his foundation are set. That’s all I’m going to say about that. It’s out of my control.”
Chung has spent 10 of his 11 seasons in the NFL with the Patriots while all eight seasons Ebner has played have come in New England alongside Brady as well. It’s been quite some time since a member of the Patriots could say they played for the team at a time when Brady was not on the roster. Depending on the decision Brady makes, that could change when free agency begins on March 18.
“Every year, guys’ contracts come up,” Ebner said. “That’s part of football. Like (Chung) said, it’s out of our control, and it’s part of football. We can’t worry about stuff we can’t control.”
