Tom Brady is the NFL's Constant

Fanatics this morning released its best-selling NFL player jerseys for the 2018 NFL preseason. Saquon Barkley led the field, followed by Jimmy Garoppolo, Carson Wentz, Tom Brady, and Khalil Mack.

Two observations that may only interest me (or Peter King, if he’s reading. Hi, Peter.) jump out. First, it’s quite incredible that Brady, entering his 19th NFL season, is still moving product. Though he dropped from No. 2 to No. 4, he’s still getting the people out in droves to buy. One has to think that a significant faction of his total are buying their second, third, or fourth Brady jersey. He is the Desmond Hume of the league, the constant in an ever-shifting world.

The turnover is on display with the four other players on the list. Wentz is entering his third season, Barkley his first. Garoppolo and Mack are studs acclimating to new cities. All are fresh and exciting and all presumably have several years of stardom in their futures.

It’s one data point but it suggests the NFL is in a good place right now. Producing new talent to the brightest spotlight with new backstories is the type of thing baseball has been dreaming of doing for years and the NBA used to thrive.