For the first time since Super Bowl 50, the New England Patriots are not making a bid for the Lombardi Trophy this weekend when the Kansas City Chiefs play the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV. While they aren't down in South Beach looking for another title, their presence -- specifically the upcoming 2020 free agent status of quarterback Tom Brady -- still looms large. 

On Thursday evening, the six-time Super Bowl champion in Brady sent social media into a frenzy after posting a rather cryptic black and white photo of himself walking out of a tunnel (at Gillette Stadium?) and onto the field. No caption came alongside the photo, which only adds to the intrigue. 

Duh, duh, duh! 

It should be noted that Adam Schefter of ESPN notes that this post is not related to his football future. That said, this latest post comes off the heels of the social media rumor that Brady and his wife Gisele Bündchen were in the Nashville area touring the Montgomery Bell Academy with one of his sons. That rumor has since been shut down by WKRN's Kelly Dean, who confirmed with the school that Brady was not there visiting. 

Of course, the reason that has any significance in the first place is that the Tennessee Titans could, theoretically, bring him aboard. After all, Brady is close friends with head coach Mike Vrabel and the Titans do have a roster that just went to the AFC Championship with fellow soon-to-be free-agent quarterback Ryan Tannehill. If he were actually looking at schools in the area for his kid, that would make those rumors that much juicier. Again, he wasn't, so it's somewhat of a moot point.

Nevertheless, this Brady tweet will only enhance the number of questions that flow in about his future in the NFL and with the New England Patriots. 

Does this photo represent him leaving Foxborough? Does it mean he's moving on to a new team? Is he walking away from the game completely? 

Because of the vagueness of the tweet, it does open up all possibilities, no matter what's currently reported. 

As for where Brady could end up if it's not the Patriots, the Titans, Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas Raiders and even Miami Dolphins have all been discussed. Recently, NBC Sports' Peter King even added the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a "sleeping giant" in the Tom Brady sweepstakes. 

While we may be all rocking in our chairs with our tinfoil hats firmly on our heads as we put pins on a map of possible destinations for Brady, the quarterback has remained close to the vest with his decision. He also is wise the fact that people are watching his every move. 

"I know there's speculation," Brady told Westwood One back in mid-January. "There always is. That is part of being in professional sports and being a professional athlete. When people aren't talking about this season, they want to talk about next season and the reality is next season is quite a ways away."

For a guy like Brady -- who is calculative in each and every move he makes -- to post something like this with the awareness of the questions, it'll bring suggests that some sort of decision is on the horizon. What decision will that ultimately be? Well, similar to that Twitter post, it's a bit hard to read at the moment.