Tom Brady and the New England Patriots aren’t going anywhere for a bit

The Kansas City Chiefs and other Super Bowl hopefuls in the AFC are going to have to go through Tom Brady and the Patriots for a bit longer.

Some fans might relish the challenge. Certainly the players will say as much. But for those who are hoping that the New England Patriots reign atop the AFC will end anytime soon with Tom Brady’s retirement will have to wait a bit longer with news that the Pats quarterback has actually signed a contract extension.

Ian Rapoport has word that the Pats and Brady have agreed on a two-year extension, one which will keep the future first-ballot Hall of Famer entrenched as the man to beat—until someone actually beats him.

Brady’s current deal runs out after the 2019 season and comes with a $27 million cap hit. The new deal will undoubtedly pay him plenty, although Brady has certainly left a lot on the table in his career for the sake of being a bit more cap-friendly as the team’s quarterback.

Last year, the Pats won another Super Bowl and Brady threw 29 touchdowns against only 11 interceptions in the process. Brady is a 14-time Pro Bowler who has also won four Super Bowl MVP trophies as well as three NFL MVP awards. Perhaps his most incredible stat is that he’s gone 30-10 in postseason play and remains as dangerous as ever in the playoffs.

For a team like the Kansas City Chiefs or other ascendant teams like the L.A. Chargers, Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts and the like, having Brady around for another year or three means that the challenge will remain as daunting as ever to try to outsmart and outperform the Brady-Bill Belichick combination. The Chiefs were on the verge of doing just that in 2018, but the Pats were still able to send them home.

Brady just turned 42 in early August and he will be entering his 20th season in the National Football League.