TAMPA, Fla. — Tom Brady made the shocking announcement on Sunday he is returning to the Bucs next season after his retirement lasted just 40 days.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion announced his decision on Twitter and Instagram, saying he has “unfinished business.” The news stole the spotlight from the NCAA’s Selection Sunday.
“These past two months I’ve realized my place is still on the field and not in the stands,” Brady wrote. “That time will come. But it’s not now. I love my teammates, and I love my supportive family. They make it all possible. I’m coming back for my 23rd season in Tampa.”
Brady led the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl title following the 2020 season and NFC South championship last season.
“This guy just doesn’t want to go away,” former NFL pro and Locked On NFL Insider Isaiah Stanback said. “When he retired, it just felt like the story wasn’t done…Being one of his former teammates and understanding who he is as a competitor, I knew there was a part of him that just wasn’t done yet.”
The timing of Brady’s announcement is curious. Beginning Monday at noon, teams are allowed to negotiate with the agents of upcoming unrestricted free agents during the “two Day negotiating period,” a window prior to the start of free agency.
“The timing of this is not just coincidental,” Stanback said. “With the new league year starting this week, the Bucs needed to know exactly what their cap situation looked like. They needed to let the rest of the free agents know who their quarterback was going to be, and this is how much space we have. Now the the free agents know there’s an opportunity to go down to Tampa and win a ring.”
So what does this news mean for the rest of the NFL? Well, nothing good for teams not located in Tampa.
The NFC South is looking particularly weak and the NFC as a whole is pretty wide open. Aaron Rodgers is coming back to the Packers and the Rams are obviously still going to be a contender, but other than those two teams, there isn’t a ton of competition in the NFC, as there is in the AFC. The Bucs immediately become a strong Super Bowl contender with this move. Oddsmakers in Vegas have moved the Bucs into the favorite spot to win the NFC after Brady’s announcement.
“There’s not a lot of competition in the NFC South, but as you look at Tom Brady and the decisions he’s making, he’s looking at the Los Angeles Rams’ of the league, he’s trying to figure out who he can take down to get to that next level, because a lot of the competition at the quarterback position is over in the AFC, so he doesn’t have to worry about those guys,” Stanback said.
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