The Dallas Cowboys ended the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ season and sent the football world into speculation over what may be next for 23-year veteran quarterback Tom Brady.
Brady entered the league as a sixth-round pick out of the University of Michigan by the New England Patriots in 2000 and quickly took the starting quarterback job in just his second year in the league — leading the Patriots to their first-ever Super Bowl win, launching a dynasty in the process.
Brady would spend 20 years in New England, winning six Super Bowls and becoming one of the most legendary quarterbacks of all time.
Brady left New England for Tampa in 2020 and won his seventh Super Bowl in his first season with the team. He followed that by leading the NFL in passing yards in 2021, but the Buccaneers were knocked out of the playoffs by the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional round.
Brady briefly retired after last season but changed his mind after less than two months. Then, things took a downturn in year three in Tampa.
Head coach Bruce Arians retired, and the team did not play as well under Todd Bowles. Brady averaged a career-low 9.6 yards per completion, only ahead of Arizona’s Kyler Murray, and experienced his first losing season as the Buccaneers backed into the playoffs at 8-9.
Rumors have flown about offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich after the unit went from averaging over 30 points per game in each of the last two seasons to a mere 18 in 2022, but head coach Todd Bowles has said no decision has been made yet on his future.
“We’re evaluating players,” Bowles said in a postseason press conference on Tuesday. “We’ll meet as a coaching staff later in the week and I’ll meet with individual coaches as well as the staff — which we do every year — and we’ll make those assessments then.”
“I don’t want to sit here and say we’re talking about things when I haven’t even talked through things with my coaches,” he added. “We do our yearly assessment just like we do with the players.”
Fox analyst Brady Quinn reported earlier this season that Brady and Leftwich had some disagreements in playcalling, and the quarterback wanted more control of the offense. If that is the case, it is difficult to see both returning.
Brady’s contract expires when the new league year starts in March, so will he be the one to go?
He has nothing left to prove and has won just about everything anyone can in one career: seven Super Bowl wins, three MVPs, and nearly every record in the book, to name a few.
Plus, Brady has a great deal waiting for him once he does retire — a 10-year, $375 million agreement to become Fox’s lead NFL analyst.
He is not the player he once was this late in his career, and it likely would not be better next year. Yet, he could choose to continue playing in the right situation.
He could return to Tampa Bay and try to recapture the Buccaneers’ success during his first two seasons with the team. It could depend on who the new offensive coordinator is and the relationship Brady has with that person.
He could also choose to see what other suitors may be available. With his resume, teams in need of quarterback upgrades should have interest, although no one knows how much at this point.
A commonly proposed scenario has involved the San Francisco 49ers. Brady grew up in the Bay Area, and the team has had some questions about the quarterback position.
This was supposed to be the year Trey Lance took the reins from Jimmy Garoppolo, but both suffered season-ending injuries, forcing rookie seventh-round pick Brock Purdy to start for a potential Super Bowl contender.
Lance will return next season, but the knowledge Brady could bring would be invaluable for such a young player if they were to choose to bring in a veteran stop-gap on a short-term deal.
Another option would be the Las Vegas Raiders, who recently benched veteran starter Derek Carr.
The Raiders’ head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Zeigler were both hired from the Patriots organization, and McDaniels has a long-lasting relationship with Brady from two stints as New England’s offensive coordinator.
Other popular destinations rumored for Brady include the New York Jets, the Tennessee Titans, the Washington Commanders, the New Orleans Saints, the Miami Dolphins, and even a reunion with the Patriots.
I can’t believe the Dallas Express would waste their space on what might happen to this football player. Who cares?