Tom Brady has interesting solution to avoid Azeez Al-Shaair-Trevor Lawrence situation from repeating

When the topic of the Azeez Al-Shaair’s hit on Trevor Lawrence came up on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, the now FOX broadcaster understood why the Texans linebacker was penalized. The hit could have hurt Lawrence worse than what is now. Tom Brady had a solution to curtail this issue.

Maybe they fine or penalize a quarterback for sliding late. And say look, if we don’t want these hits to take place, we’ve got to penalize the offense and the defense. Rather than just penalize a defensive player for every single play that happens when there’s a hit on a quarterback.

Tom Brady said

The 47-year-old pointed out that there are more designed quarterback runs now than ever. That means offensive coordinators are putting their quarterbacks in harm’s way. Brady understood that the really good runners of the ball know how to avoid hits.

He clarified that a QB running out of his pocket will invite defenders to stop him. Brady believes when considering all this, the defensive player should not be penalized for being the one that stops the quarterback.

Former Browns great echoes Tom Brady’s words

Former Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Joe Thomas was one of the best offensive tackles to play in the league. He too has seen how the league has evolved up until his retirement in 2017. Then onwards, he has worked as an analyst and has kept tabs on all games.

When he saw the Azeez Al-Shaari-Trevor Lawrence situation develop, he felt there were two sides of the coin no one was talking about. Fans and analysts were quick to blame the linebacker, especially considering his previous history. But Joe Thomas felt it was not completely his fault.

This hit was malicious and has no place in our game… But the NFL needs to get the ‘weaponized quarterback slide’ out of the game. A late slide, fake slide, or acting like you’re gonna go out of bounds and then skirting forward for a few more yards; these all need to be 15-yard penalties against the offense.

Joe Thomas wrote on X

The eight-time All-Pro echoed Tom Brady’s words when suggesting that the quarterback had that much of a hand in that suspension inducing tackle as Al-Shaair. This different perspective from two offensive greats suggests the league needs to rethink its officiating around this tackle.