Someone tricked a reporter into thinking Tom Brady would hold out this offseason

You may have heard that Tom Brady is expected to hold out this offseason unless he gets a contract that’s similar to the $137.5 million one Jimmy Garoppolo signed with the 49ers on Thursday. That’s probably not going to happen because those rumors are the result of a giant hoax.

What happened? The report came from Ron Borges of the Boston Herald. Borges received a text message from someone claiming to be Don Yee, Brady’s agent. The text said that Brady “is prepared to sit out all offseason activity” unless he got a new deal similar to the structure and scope of Garoppolo’s.

The problem is this: That message wasn’t from Yee. It was from Nick in Boston, a loyal WEEI listener. WEEI’s Kirk & Callahan shared the text exchange:

The prankster told Kirk & Callahan on the air that it wasn’t difficult to fool Borges.

“Somebody tweeted Ron Borges’ phone number, and I just picked it up and for some reason I just thought, ‘Hey, I’ll text him and say I’m Don Yee.’ And he just went with it for some reason,” Nick in Boston said, via Pro Football Talk. “Here’s the funny part. Well, it’s all funny but here’s the funnier part: He tried to call me three times and I just didn’t answer. But then I was just like, whatever, screw it, I’ll just call him and he’s gonna know it’s not Don Yee. But I called him and I was just like, ‘Hey, Ronnie, it’s Don.’”

Borges ran with the story, which quickly spread far and wide. That didn’t last long. The Herald pulled it, and sports editor Sean Leahy told Pro Football Talk that the paper is “looking into it.”

On Friday afternoon, the Herald released a statement on this situation:

A column by Ron Borges in today’s Herald regarding Patriot Tom Brady’s salary discussions was based on information which proved to be false.

The Herald apologizes to Brady, his agent Don Yee and the Patriots, and to our readers for this erroneous report.

Borges’ column has been suspended pending further review.

Background on the contracts: Brady is currently under contract with the Patriots through the 2019 season. He’s set to haul in $22 million — a combination of $14 million base salary, $7 million prorated signing bonus, and a $1 million roster bonus — over each of the next two years. But the 49ers, who acquired Garoppolo from the Patriots before the 2017 trade deadline, just signed the quarterback to a five-year, $137.5 million deal. That averages out to $27.5 million per year, and it makes Brady’s former backup the highest-paid player in league history.

There’s no evidence that Brady is considering holding out for a new deal or that he’s dissatisfied with his pay.

Background: Previous reports about tension within the Patriots organization made the story that much more believable on first glance.

Rumors of conflict between Brady and head coach Bill Belichick have been swirling since mid-season. There were even reports suggesting that Belichick and Brady might retire after Super Bowl LII. If there is bad blood between Brady and Belichick, it didn’t stop Brady from putting together the third MVP season of his career or the Patriots from making it to the Super Bowl.

Brady, 40, has said he’d like to continue playing until he’s 45. The Patriots will need to make a decision about Brady’s future with the team sometime before the end of the 2019 season. But right now, Brady’s under contract, and any type of holdout this offseason seems like a long shot.