INDIANAPOLIS – The NFL insider wars got a little heated Wednesday afternoon when Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network and Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports drew their pens (keyboards?) and went at it over a scoop involving Tom Brady and Matthew Stafford.

Yeah, only in the NFL can the fact that Brady is meeting with Stafford in an effort to get him traded from the Los Angeles Rams to the Las Vegas Raiders get equal billing with a little feud on X about the story’s details.

But here we are.

So let’s review this drama:

Fox Sports: Brady And Stafford Meeting

Schultz on Wednesday afternoon delivered what is admittedly a scoop about the topic that has been the talk of this NFL Scouting Combine. 

According to Schultz, Brady recently hosted Stafford at his home in Montana, where they spent time together and went skiing. Brady, Schultz said, has been actively trying to convince Stafford to join the Raiders, and discussions are ongoing.

This, by the way, is accurate. 

The Raiders would love to trade for Stafford. Brady, the Raiders’ minority owner and confidant to managing partner Mark Davis, has taken on a significant role in club football decisions. And he’s trying to help get the best quarterback available to want to be in Las Vegas.

None of that is in dispute. 

It’s also not in dispute that the Rams don’t necessarily want to trade Stafford but will consider it if they’re offered significant trade compensation, because they don’t want to overpay for a Stafford contract extension considering he just turned 37-years-old.

NFL Network: Brady Not Recruiting

Well, Rapoport, a very good bulldog of a reporter who everyone calls RapSheet, followed the Schultz report with a significantly different spin.

Rapsheet said the meeting between Stafford and Brady was “unplanned.”

And it was not about Brady “hosting” or “recruiting” Stafford, Rapsheet said.

And then the gut punch: “Despite reports saying otherwise.”

That was obviously a shot at Schultz’s report.

And despite the fact that credibility is what insiders use as currency – that and huge national television audiences – the two sides just stood down and let their X audiences decide for themselves what’s what.

No they didn’t.

Schultz Responds To RapSheet

Schultz within minutes returned fire.

“If you really think Tom Brady and Matthew Stafford just happened to run into each other at a ski resort in Montana — of all places — at the exact same time, I’ve got a bridge to sell you,” Schultz posted in obvious response to his friend Ian. 

“They were together over the weekend – it happened. Multiple teams are interested in Stafford, and Brady has been leading the charge to get him to the Raiders if the Rams decide to trade him.”

These are two respected, well-sourced dudes refusing to back down because their sources are seemingly giving different accounts of the same story.

It’s funny. And it begs one major question:

Where’s ESPN’s Adam Schefter on this? He hasn’t posted in several hours and not at all about this Montana ski meeting, chance or not.

We need someone to break this death grip between the other two guys.