How the Tom Brady retirement news impacts the Buccaneers

Changes are coming for the Buccaneers without Tom Brady.

The Tom Brady news will persist for the next few days, with people talking about his legacy and impact on the Patriots and Buccaneers, but Bucs fans need to focus on the future more than the past.

The Super Bowl win is officially ancient history. The Buccaneers are out of contention, and living in the past can’t be what this franchise is known for. It is time to move forward, and part of that comes from knowing what is on the horizon.

Changes are obviously coming to Tampa. But figuring out what those changes are is how this franchise can stay relevant before the inevitable firestorm comes down.

The most impactful change is that the Bucs just lost the best player-GM in sports. Brady had a way of bringing talent from all corners of the league, and that is gone now. This isn’t to say that no one wants to play in Tampa any longer, but it did just get a bit harder to sell quality players on a smaller-market team.

Gone are the days of giving up money for the sake of winning a ring. Free agency just became an issue for the Bucs, and no other quarterback in the league will stem that bleeding.

Also, some departures are coming as a further result of free agency. Does anyone honestly believe that Rob Gronkowski is going to stay in Tampa without his best friend?

Will Chris Godwin test the water in free agency with teams that can afford to pay him more than the Buccaneers, who just became a bit more strapped for cash?

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Brady is an obvious loss of talent for the Buccaneers, but his departure will function like a plug on a drain coming off and making it extremely difficult to keep any water in the tub.

Jason Licht and Bruce Arians are perfectly-suited to adjust on the fly, but let’s not pretend that the Buccaneers aren’t bleeding, and it could get much worse.

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