Tom Brady broke Twitter when he announced he wouldn’t be returning to New England. Could he actually be coming to Tampa?
The Buccaneers and Tom Brady are both putting a lot on the line this offseason.
Tom Brady has announced he will not be continuing his football journey in New England but he hasn’t said his destination. The 2 teams that have been linked are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Los Angeles Chargers.
Being that Tom Brady grew up in California and has been in the AFC his entire career, you would think he would be favoring the Chargers, but that hasn’t wavered the Bucs from taking a home run-type swing at Brady.
Bruce Arians has reportedly been ‘All-In’ on Brady for some time now and the Bucs have made an offer believed to be in the $30 million dollars per year range. The issue with this is that Brady can drag this out and see how high his salary could go. If it is true the Bucs have gone all in on this bidding war, it is a war they must win.
If he does slip to the Chargers they would have to hope Jameis Winston, Teddy Bridgewater or Andy Dalton is still available and at that point it may be too late. They would be left to scramble for any QB left.
The other end of this is if either the Bucs or Chargers get trigger happy and elect to sign one of the other free agent quarterbacks, Brady may be left in limbo and having to sign for less than he wants or to whatever team is left.
If it is just between the Bucs and Chargers, I don’t see why Brady would pick LA over Tampa aside from the hometown factor. The Bucs have arguably the best receiving core in the league, a young rising defense and, if it’s about money, no state income tax.
There is also that big 6-foot-6 tight end that drew comparisons to Gronk: O.J. Howard. That would be special to watch.
Oh, and don’t forget: Brady is 43 years old and his last pass as a Patriot was a pick-six. Can the greatest quarterback of all time win outside of New England and without Bill Belichick?
Tom Brady choosing to announce that he will not be returning to New England is a risky move. Bucs letting Jameis test free agency is a risky move. Bruce Arians is a risky head coach and it’s clear he wouldn’t want it any other way.