Shannon Sharpe: The Patriots would have been the best in the AFC anyway

“The thing was, for me, even if they had made no moves they were still the best team in the AFC. Because basically they were bringing all their pieces back with Tom Brady. So as long as you got Tom Brady, at worst case scenario you’re going to be number two.

"The thing about the Patriots is that they got a value. You get to play for them at their price. Because Tom Brady has really always accepted less than market value. So how can someone else, no matter who you are or what you’ve accomplished, get market value when we’ve never paid it to him?

"Now, they keep tearing his contracts up and giving him $25 million in signing [bonuses], one-year deal where is base salary is $1 million. But the way they do it, the way they’ve built their ball club -- you have to just admire them. Because they’re going to put themselves in position, and as long as you’ve got Tom Brady, you don’t have to go plunge into free agency.

"But there will be a time, it’s going to be very interesting to see, when they no longer have this young man -- he’s going to be an old man, he’s about to be 40 -- how they handle free agency moving forward once he’s no longer there.”