Never read the comments, unless the comments being made are from Tom Brady while talking to Deion Sanders in Instagram on a post from the NFL Network about the idea of Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson landing with the Patriots.

Welcome to 2018, folks, where Brady managed to stir up some controversy on Wednesday with a throwaway comment on an Instagram post.

Here's the post from the NFL Network on IG, with the caption saying "Could [Jackson's IG/Twitter handle] land in New England? 🤔" while promoting Bucky Brooks discussing whether Jackson would be a fit with the Patriots:

There's probably nothing unusual on there as it relates to Tom Brady. But on the mobile Instagram app, verified comments show up first. And there were two notable guys commenting on the post that showed up on the mobile app, as noted by Kevin Dillon of MassLive.com. 

One was Deion Sanders, a Hall of Fame cornerback who now works for NFL Network, saying "about time they get that revelation" as it relates to Brooks' comment that Belichick wants Jackson "after watching Deshaun Watson tear up his defense." 

Brady -- the current Patriots quarterback if you didn't know! -- replied to Sanders and said "he's a beast!!!! 👍" See below.

This is almost certainly reading FAR too deep into an Instagram post, except that Brady is a verified user, Sanders is clearly replying to something about Jackson connecting with the Patriots and he gave a thumbs-up emoji! A THUMBS-UP EMOJI, PEOPLE. 

This all feels very millennial, but the reality here is that a thumbs up is exactly what it means, a seal of approval. At the very least, Lamar Jackson himself thinks it means the "GOAT has spoken."

Brady didn't have to comment here. He didn't have to dive in and chat with Sanders. He's very aware of what he's doing on social media. This wasn't a mistake. Tom Brady doesn't make mistakes.

Perhaps it's the best smokescreen we've seen in the history of smokescreens. The Patriots have been directly connected with drafting a quarterback after trading Brandin Cooks for the Rams' first-round pick, giving New England both the No. 23 and No. 31 selections in the first round of the draft. They are believed to be interested in finding the eventual heir to Brady, after trading away Jimmy Garoppolo to the 49ers for a second-round pick.

The Jimmy G thing is fascinating in the context of the Brady comment here, because tensions reportedly existed within the Patriots, and between Brady and Belichick, in part because Garoppolo was on the roster and was considered something of a threat. Maybe the notion of Jackson coming in doesn't move the needle as much -- as Tom Fornelli and I discussed on the Pick Six Podcast Thursday, Jackson probably needs a year or two of seasoning on the bench, so maybe he wouldn't actually be a concern for Brady, who is expected to wrap up his Hall of Fame career within the next year or so. 

New England drafting Jackson would be terrifying. They wouldn't need to plug him in, he could work with Josh McDaniels for the next two years and develop his pocket presence and then the Patriots could unleash him on the NFL with devastating results. That seems about right.