FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's new contract makes him a free agent after the 2019 season, and it comes at the same time he and wife Gisele Bundchen are attempting to sell their Massachusetts home, which Brady addressed on Monday morning.
"You shouldn't read into anything. I think it takes a long time to sell a house. My house is a little bit of an expensive one, so it doesn't fly off the shelf in a couple weeks," Brady said in his first appearance of the season on WEEI's "The Greg Hill Show."
"I think I'm at a point in my life where there's a lot of considerations that go into playing. I have a very busy professional life, I have a very busy personal life. Any decision that's made has to consider everything. I'm certainly at a place where I've been in the same place for a long time, and I love playing for the Patriots. I have such a great relationship with Mr. [Robert] Kraft, Coach [Bill] Belichick and our team. We'll just worry about that when that happens. This isn't the time to worry about it."
Brady, who said he loves building houses and would consider a career as an architectural designer after his playing career, fielded several questions about his football future in the radio interview, including if he has allowed himself to consider the possibility of not finishing his career as a Patriot. He repeated multiple times that his focus is on 2019 and controlling the things he can control.
"I think I'm in a great mental, emotional place to approach the season," Brady said on the program. "There is no point in worrying about things like that. There are so many hypotheticals -- this and that -- and if you spend time all your time and energy on those things, you [lose] track of what's most important, which is what's happening right now. This is where I want to be. This is the team I want to be a part of, and leading. I'm really excited about doing that. There's really not much to read into it than that."
As part of Brady's new contract, the Patriots agreed not to place the franchise tag on him after the season. Brady, who repeated in the interview that he hopes to play until he's 45, was asked why that was important to him in the contract.
"Those are some personal feelings, and there's a lot of personal conversations I've had that really aren't for other people's knowledge," he said on the program. "I think what this is about is this season and dealing with this year. Beyond this year, whether it's signing five more years, or signing a franchise tag, or not playing, none of those things needed to be decided this year. I'm just focused on this season and being in the right mental, emotional frame of mind to go out there and perform at the highest level.
"Like I said, I have such a great relationship with the team. I've had 20 years of success with Mr. Kraft and Jonathan [Kraft], and with Coach Belichick, with the whole organization. All the coaches. They know how I feel about them. We've just done some great things. We're going to try to go do it again this year. It takes a lot to get from now to March, and I don't want to overlook the big challenge that we're facing. I don't want my mind convoluted with thoughts that are premature, and ones that I'm worried about beyond what the current situation is -- which is us trying to go achieve what we all hope we can achieve. That's where my focus is and that's what I'm excited about. So let's go baby! Put me in, Coach. I'm ready to go play."
Brady, 42, was asked if he'd be open to continuing contract negotiations during the season, and he said he didn't want to address any hypothetical situations because his focus was on the present.