Not sure if anyone has heard this yet, but Tom Brady has a pretty big decision to make this offseason.
Brady’s future has been a talking point since before the season even started, and rumors of what he’s going to do have only intensified as his luck worsened. It’s not hyperbole to say last season was the single most disappointing season in Buccaneers history and of Brady’s career.
Will he really go out like that?
The winds blowing out of the Tom Brady rumor mill suggest the GOAT won’t bend the knee to the football gods, and a return for a 23rd season is very much in the cards. It’s a question of where will he spend next season and what sort of narrative will a potential return carry.
ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio suggested an outside-the-box option that even he admits is nothing more than a dart toss, but you have to admit is rather intriguing.
"The Detroit Lions.Wouldn’t that be something? Tom Brady, back in Michigan.Tom Brady, with a Lions team that finished 2022 strong. A Lions team with an impressive nucleus of talented players. A Lions team that quarterback Jared Goff may be able to lead on a deep run in the postseason, but may not be able to take over the top."
I made the same face you probably did reading that but take a second and think about how awesome it might be.
Tom Brady rumors: Are the Detroit Lions a dark horse destination?
Obviously, Bucs fans would prefer Tom Brady stay in Tampa Bay for one more season. Everything about 2022 felt off, and Brady certainly didn’t give the team the best version of himself. Perhaps he feels he owes it to those in the organization to end things on a better note than mailing it in (at least as much as Brady is capable of).
But there are parallels between Tampa Bay and Detroit that Bucs fans have to appreciate. Of the list of teams being linked to Brady, the Lions seem like a total curveball — just like the Bucs did.
The Lions have an extremely talented defense, high-powered offensive weapons that Brady could use, and an offbeat head coach burning with an authentically firey passion that Brady might feed off of. They also play in an extremely winnable division that has no clearcut favorite and are a franchise that Brady could help put back on the map.
Sound familiar?
Florio points this out too, but the Lions would get maxed out with primetime games if Brady comes to town. There’s a decent chance a bump is already coming given the way the team ended the season, but Brady would ensure the spotlight is on Detroit in ways it never has been before.
It’s essentially doing what he did in Tampa Bay but having it work this time. Where the Bucs appear to have committed an all-time fumbling of the bag in terms of parlaying the Brady Years into a sustainable future, the Lions seem set up to take the rejuvenation Brady would provide and use it to Restore the Roar.
Think about it, Brady’s final year in the league is spent bringing the Detroit Lions their first-ever Super Bowl trophy. How’s that for an exclamation point of an eighth ring?
No one knows what Brady is going to do — not us, not Florio, maybe not even the man himself. But the possibilities truly seem to be endless, from being boring and going to the Raiders or 49ers, to doing the right thing and returning to Tampa Bay or retiring, or going rogue one last time to try and ride off into the sunset.