As the offseason begins for some teams, the prognostication starts. This writer had a very bold take about Tom Brady and the Buccaneers.
Tom Brady is currently defying all logic during his time with the Buccaneers. Winning the Super Bowl last season and putting together an MVP-worthy campaign as the oldest player in the league by a healthy margin shows just how high Brady can go.
There are no signs of slowing down, no gaps in the armor, and Brady looks like he has the talent and the energy left to remain on the roster for a long time to come.
This is why it comes as such a surprise that Seth Wickersham of ESPN predicts that Brady could retire at the end of this season.
Perhaps Seth hasn’t been watching for the better part of the past decade, but it feels like one of the biggest reasons why Tom Brady has stayed in the league so long is to make takes like this age like milk in the sun.
How long have we been hearing that ‘this is Brady’s last season?’
And, to make the prediction even worse, why would Brady retire while he is playing some of the best football of his career on a team that is still in Super Bowl contention next season?
If there was a drop-off in the GOAT’s quality, perhaps a prediction like this would make sense, but we aren’t talking about Big Ben here. Brady is pushing the ball deep, scrambling for first downs, and playing like a man half his age.
This is not the season for Brady to retire, even if it is wise to cut the cord before you get to where Roethlisberger was at.
While Brady certainly won’t play forever, there is still plenty of evidence suggesting he has the gas in the tank to play a few more seasons in Tampa. He did just sign an extension after all, and Brady doesn’t seem like the type of player to step out with a year left on the deal.
Tom Brady has been clear about his retirement from the start: his career will end when he stops moving the needle for a team in the playoffs. As it stands, Brady is one of the biggest reasons behind Tampa’s playoff success, so predicting an exit from the league at this point isn’t going to age well.