Tom Brady “More Open” To Playing In 2023
January 20th, 2023
Latest intel.
So Tom Brady Watch is on. Will he play or will he retire? Will he play for the Bucs or will he bolt to Miami?
(No, Joe doesn’t believe the chatter coming out of South Florida that the Dolphins are all in on Tua; not if they can land Brady. The amount of revenue that comes with Brady makes Tua incredibly expendable, especially since he’s injury-prone and entering the final year of his contract.)
To hear NFL insider Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, Brady seems to be leaning toward playing again and that Brady may make a decision soon.
And Pelissero never mentioned the Bucs have been crossed off Brady’s list during an appearance yesterday on the “Rich Eisen Show.”
“People close to Brady for the last two months have said all his options are on the table,” Pelissero said. “He is showing that he seems more open to coming back and playing another year than he did certainly a year ago at this time when he retired and unretired.
“Tom Brady knows if he comes back, he’s only coming back for one thing, which is to try to win another championship. And you can’t do that if you decide in June or July to come back and the rosters are already set and you have no flexibility to build the team the way you want it.”
Can the Bucs convince Brady he has an easier road to a Super Bowl with the Bucs than he would with Miami? With Brady, Joe thinks the Dolphins are legit Super Bowl contenders.
Still, playing in the AFC, a team would have to go through a gauntlet of quarterbacks like Pat Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert and Trevor Lawrence. Have fun with that.
In the NFC, what quarterback scares you? Maybe a healthy Jalen Hurts? Aaron Rodgers is a well-documented choke artist. Matt Stafford is a cripple. Dak Prescott? Meh. Brock Purdy sure looks formidable, but of course, small sample size.
Perhaps Brady’s shot at playing in another Super Bowl is to stay with the Bucs with a rebooted offense where a division crown and a home playoff game is easily within reach.
Ira Kaufman Calls For An End To The Tom Brady Era, Dives Into Fan Rage At Todd Bowles, Thursday’s Coach Firings, Next Steps & More
January 20th, 2023 at 8:09 am
With Wirfs, Evans, Godwin, and the pretty good defense, any legitimate QB with a coaching staff who doesn’t have their head in the sand has a chance to win the SB.
January 20th, 2023 at 8:10 am
Brady said it was hard learning a new offense, does he want to do it again? For what, another year, maybe two? I think that’s where Bill O’Brian might come in. Those two worked well together in the past. I’m wondering Joe if the Bucs even want Brady back? Are they ready to move on, are play planning to rebuild? Can’t wait to see who we interview for O.C.. I’m worried it might be coaches from Bowles failed Jets teams.
January 20th, 2023 at 8:16 am
I think the Joes and Ira are too cozy with the Bucs management. They take orders to tone it back. They do this for access and the benefit of this site- seems to be a propoganda arm for the team. Otherwise they would be calling for the firing of Bowles, doing a fan poll on the firing of Bowles not his “confidence” level. I’m disappointed that they are happy to make Leftwich the scapegoat, then move on with the “reporting.”
Any person with eyes or a brain can see that this whole thing is doomed with Bowles in charge. Licht destroyed this thing also. Shouldn’t get a pass.
CLEAN HOUSE!
January 20th, 2023 at 8:16 am
I think whoever the Bucs hire as OC will tell us everything we need to know about Brady’s decision.
January 20th, 2023 at 8:21 am
He doesn’t owe the Glazers anything. Only a fool would think that. He’s generated tens of millions of dollars of additional revenue for them by his very presence. The notion that he’s “tied” to Florida because of his kids is equally ludicrous. He’ll spend an extra hour or two on a private jet to see them if need be. The idea that he loves it in Tampa Bay and so he’ll stay is laughable. He’s going where he thinks he can win a championship. Perhaps that is Tampa but I get the strong feeling he’s gone. To where– we’ll find out in March.
January 20th, 2023 at 8:21 am
Joe, you make a compelling argument to stay in Tampa. I really think it depends on who the next OC is. Perhaps they can land OBrien, that would likely be the golden ticket. If not he will be throwing to Tyrek and Waddle next year and looking forward to stick it to his former head coach. I don’t think Mahomey or any other young gun slinger concerns him in the least. With right team AND OC / O-line Brady is far and away the best. Even at 46 years old.
January 20th, 2023 at 8:23 am
Weapons… we don’t have any explosives offensive weapons
Trade Devin White
Brady needs a piece of the franchise and a future role
I have no idea how this is going to shake out but suspect that the relationship between Tom and the Glazers is much deeper than we have been allowed to know about
January 20th, 2023 at 8:24 am
What positive aspect has Bowles brought to this team as HC? I’ll wait
January 20th, 2023 at 8:29 am
Sorry, but QBs in this day and age need a little bit of mobility. Age has limited Brady and he would need a very solid team to succeed. The Bucs are not going to be that team. I hope he moves on and the Bucs finally confront the fact that this is a total rebuild.
January 20th, 2023 at 8:34 am
I think he is long gone. Unless you believe he hated Byron and blames him for the failures of last year, why should he? And it didn’t look like he felt that way. How many times did he go over to Todd and give him a big handshake or hug after the few comeback victories last year. Does anyone remember? I don’t.
January 20th, 2023 at 8:36 am
I did notice and comment here that the body language between Tom and BL was numb
January 20th, 2023 at 8:37 am
i have a leak that i stumbled into the past day or so involving alex guererro that has a lot to do with tommy b…
and it seems to mean he is not coming back to the bucs…
i’m no reporter so i’m not reporting sh!t…
but if the joe’s hit me up in email i will tell them what i know…
@joe:
it’s up to you…email me if you want the scoop
January 20th, 2023 at 8:38 am
We’ll have Jensen, Mason, Wirfs back next yr….that’s 3 pro bowlers. Hainsey or Leverett should be sufficient at LG. Question mark is LT, Smith can’t stop anyone unless he holds, he killed so many drives. Evans, Godwin, Gage are solid….TE is still a question. RBs are above avg if line stays healthy.
There’s a lot there to like, division is weak, I think Tampa is much better poisoned than Vegas, Jets, Saints, Carolina, etc. Tennessee is one that might be flying under the radar. Vrabel played with Brady, they have an elite back to run play action, division is weak, probably gets Gronk to join him…maybe snag Beckham.
January 20th, 2023 at 8:39 am
Y’all are so delusional. You actually think this guy can win another championship? Really? So let’s just say that half the people on this site are like 50 plus years old. Of coarse you want the old man to play with the young guys. Nice thought, but what’s best for the team is to get younger and have someone who isn’t throwing the ball in the dirt. I dont care y’all can jump on me all you want. You need a younger side to the story sometimes. This site should start trying to be a little more neutral. Then everybody wants to jump down your throat if you say something that’s best for the team and not what’s best for Brady. I come to this site to get a good laugh every now and then because I know when I enter I get one side of the coin. During the games is the best. Everybody is like “brady is done” then if he comes back on a team it’s like “oh my god the messiah has done it again”. Let’s get the TEAM back on the same page. If you give Bowles his shot and he messes up then ok, get on him. He did not mess up Brady last year, Brady messed up Brady’s year. #message
January 20th, 2023 at 8:43 am
No way he comes back to Tampa… they are $57 million over the cap! Only the Saints are in worse shape.
So the personnel can really only be worse next season, why would he choose that?
And as for loyalty, last year Brady was ready to ditch all the teammates he’d brought into Tampa the year before so that he himself could play in Miami, right?
January 20th, 2023 at 8:50 am
Dak? Meh?????? Dak just lit us up. What game were you watching?
January 20th, 2023 at 8:51 am
Tom Brady’s path to one more ring ( if he plays for one more year) is with the Buccaneers. Plain and simple. Familiarity! The offense can be tuned up to hum! Priority on the O-line and the running game. No run, no Brady! Simple as that! The real concern is the defense. This is Bowles’ defense. Did he forget how to game plan? Did he forget the name: Cooper Kupp? Talk about unfinished business! Ohh, Bowles was probably too busy making sure the offense clicked on all cylinders! Arians =No risk it, no biscuit! Bowles = No fix it, no brisket!
January 20th, 2023 at 8:52 am
Ok friends, the problem is very simple; any team that has Todd Bowles as it’s head coach is going to FAIL. Even with TB and the rest of the talent. This guy has won nothing. He makes mistake after mistake. Sure you can blame Leftwich, but he worked for Bowles. Fire Bowles and you at least have a chance, leave him and the party is over before it starts.
January 20th, 2023 at 8:54 am
A slightly better offense and we have a good enough defense to win it all
January 20th, 2023 at 8:57 am
@Hodad: with a new Bucs OC, no matter where he goes it’s a new system.
Unless Brady gets to dictate some of the system to a new Bucs OC with knowledge of the current Bucs players skilz and assets…which may be very attractive to Brady.
I do like the idea of Todd Monken.
January 20th, 2023 at 8:59 am
@SB: it was clear with body language Brady was cordial to Leftwich. Polite. That does not mean he respected him or bought into the Leftwich/Bowles antiquated offensive “system.”
January 20th, 2023 at 9:01 am
LOL
Yeah, like writing daily stories since October how the Bucs need to fire the offensive coordinator. 🙂
January 20th, 2023 at 9:01 am
Bowels will implement his offensive plan
#1 hire Lovie Smith as offensive coordinator
#2 run playoff Lenny 40+ times a game
#3 replace Brady at QB with another blocker like Luke Goedeke.
#4 revamp offensive line
#5 replace slot WR Russell Gage with blocker Ko Kieft
#6 move Vita Vea to FB, Akeem Hicks to LG
#7 Rely on the defense to score most of the points
Smash mouth 1970s football is back baby!!!
January 20th, 2023 at 9:02 am
Four Tuddy, I think you may be delusional to think that Brady can’t win another championship. Look at his stats from 2019 in New England, they are almost identical to this year. A great year, heck no, but look at his 2020 superbowl winning year and last years stats. Everyone was saying he was washed up in 2019 and look at what he did after that. One bad game or one bad year does not give me enough confidence to say he will never win again.
January 20th, 2023 at 9:03 am
@JonGrudin I’m pretty sure that would be way more fun to watch than what we will end up seeing.
January 20th, 2023 at 9:18 am
I’m not concerned about our offense improving…..I’m concerned that our defense is so inconsistent and got destroyed vs the Cowboys….and Bowles is running that show……
January 20th, 2023 at 9:20 am
If Brady wants to return, I think it would be crazy to tell him “thanks, but no thanks”! If he’s wanting to return, it tells me that he’ll come back with a burning desire to put last season behind him and win another championship!
Only one problem here…Bowels!!
January 20th, 2023 at 9:20 am
LOL at what Jon Grudin wrote! I think they better hire a strong OC and staff. Need to overhaul the O-Line and get rid of some of the older free agents. Time to re-load or re-build whether Brady comes back or not.
January 20th, 2023 at 9:23 am
Well any QB would have lit us up. It didn’t matter who we played. Look at all the bad teams with nobody qbs we lost to. It’s a trend.
January 20th, 2023 at 9:32 am
Please for the live of god Brady go…and go fast….we need an upgrade to a QB who van run faster and move quicker than Dorf….
January 20th, 2023 at 9:34 am
I think Bucs do give him the best option to get back to the playoffs. A revamp of the offense seems warranted anyway. Bowles even discussed that you have to evolve schematically, you get figured out. BL obviously wasn’t up to task
January 20th, 2023 at 9:42 am
If we haven’t heard by now, I doubt we will, but to me, the most important question right now concerning Brady is his health. The supposed but not confirmed injuries to his hand and shoulder – did that “little rotator cuff” injury heal up nicely?
Those are the first questions I’d be asking before thinking about whether Brady decides to play in 23 or not, and coaches and GM’s probably are, too.
January 20th, 2023 at 9:55 am
Firing Leftlauger, without flushing the stench is like playing not to lose. Come on! Finish the job. Spin that Bowel movement down the drain in a counter clockwise spiral.
January 20th, 2023 at 10:17 am
Brady’s 3 seasons with the Bucs have been a downward spiral: Season 1 > Season 2 > Season 3. And, the Bucs simply do NOT have a Super Bowl roster right now and will NOT have one for Season 4. No way he returns.
January 20th, 2023 at 10:21 am
The 2024 draft is Loaded with QB talent.
Bring back Brady for 1 more year then draft your future QB.
Also though If Brady wants to try for one more Championship maybe he will play somewhere else because he doesn’t feel like Bucs can win one with Bowles as head coach
January 20th, 2023 at 11:09 am
Miami isn’t a QB away from being a legitimate contender. They have good receivers but a lot of holes to fill in the tough AFC. The NFC is the conference that gives him the most opportunity to get back to a Superbowl. And the only team with enough weapons next season is the 49ers. Either he goes there, stays here, or retires. Every other team is just dreaming.
January 20th, 2023 at 11:21 am
Miami’s OLINE got Tua injured multiple times, eventually ending his season, and got Teddy Bridgewater injured and ended his season as well.
January 20th, 2023 at 11:22 am
The early word out of Miami is that they fully plan to stick with Tua. Of course that could change.
SF? If Purdy takes them to the Super Bowl, are they going to reward him with the bench while they sign a 46 year old who just wants to play 1 year for his childhood team before retiring? That’s a bit F ‘d up. A month ago when Jimmy went down, I would have said for sure Brady will go to SF. But now, John Lynch is going to have a dilemma. And the wrong move could cause things to fall apart there just as pieces are coming together.
Which leaves the Raiders…who has a worse OL than we have. Good luck, Tom.
January 20th, 2023 at 11:42 am
I have the feeling that the Glazers will let Tommy “help” with the coaching decisions a little bit.
IF he stays, they will instruct the front office to bend over backwards to make him happy with personnel.
If BL was released without any input from Tom, then the likelyhood of his parting ways is much greater.
If he stays, that is an endorsement of Bowles and I will (at least briefly) back off of calling for his termination.
Any OC that comes in would need to be “in tune” with how Brady runs the offense.
If Tom leaves, I personally will accept that as an indictment of Bowles inability to coach a winning team.
ie.
A lot rides on Tommy’s decision.
I hope he makes it soon enough for the team to react.
January 20th, 2023 at 12:02 pm
@ Colin O’Keeffe
yes, Dak lit up the Bucs….do you know who else did?
– Tribusky/Pickett comined 109 Rating
– Pj Walker 126 rating
– Lamar 104 rating
– Geno Smith 115 Rating
– Andy Dalton 107 Rating
– Purdy 134 Rating
– Burrow 104 Rating
– Darnold 108 Rating
not exactly a stellar list of NFL QBs, yet the Bucs D had trouble stopping any of them
January 20th, 2023 at 12:22 pm
Wearing Black and Silver he won’t be learning a new offense, just perfecting an old one.
January 20th, 2023 at 12:26 pm
I don’t know. As much as I wouldn’t mind Brady coming back I just don’t see it. With Bowles still running the ship I don’t see him back here. However if Arians came back and was HC and called the plays and Bowles went back to DC then I could see Brady coming back.
January 20th, 2023 at 12:36 pm
If Brady plays again it will be in Vegas. Josh Mcdaniels was his offensive coach for about 14 years so no learning curve just getting familiar with receivers. I mean they don’t have a QB they are going to trade or release Carr and his backup is a free agent. Mcdaniels will more than likely draft a QB but he needs someone to by some time so he won’t lose his job. Who better than his old friend Tom. Maybe to Bucs could trade a couple of high price players to Vegas that Brady is familiar with.
January 20th, 2023 at 1:03 pm
@Allbuccedup: not to mention a new Brady/Guerrero business was launched in Las Vegas yesterday.
Coincidence?
January 20th, 2023 at 1:11 pm
I am a fan Bill O’Brien but people are probably over emphasizing the relationship between Brady and O’Brien.
It seems like O’Brien was Brady’s OC for 1 year and was his QB coach for 2 more years.
2 years. Brady has been with a lot of other coaches for a lot longer.
Why is Brady closer with O’Brien than Clyde Christiansen, Bruce Arians, Byron Leftwich, Charlie Weiss.
January 20th, 2023 at 1:46 pm
The odds of winning the superbowl, particularly with this leadership, are so slim. So moving on not the worst idea. Though the cap hit is big.
They should draft a QB regardless of Brady decision.
I personally see this as either being bucs/fins/retirement. He isn’t going west. 9ers would be crazy to add him and had many better opportunities to do it. I don’t see vegas. I think all this speculation is just media needing something to chatter about.
January 20th, 2023 at 1:47 pm
If you think about it, the smartest thing Bowles did was say I’m hands off on offense. Secretly he probably knew what would/might happen.
Bowles wasn’t the problem and plenty of successful HCs are defensive minded.
I think Brady comes back and we spend a lot of money on the O Line.
It’s gonna be exciting to watch either way.
I even imagined Brady gone and getting Lamar Jackson and would we want him.
Think I read Harbaugh said he is 200% sure Lamar is a Raven, but can you imagine going from a historical low rushing game to L Jackson lol.
My point is there is always a Silver Lining in whatever happens so buckle up.
January 20th, 2023 at 1:47 pm
The Dolphins thing was not only about QB, but also about ownership. Would the Glazers open up the books for Brady??
January 20th, 2023 at 2:23 pm
What happens if Brady comes back to the Bucs for 23, and he falls off that proverbial cliff that is coming fast and furiously towards him as a 46-47-year-old QB? Where will we be then? Hoping and praying for his resurrection? I have read here several times that you need to let players go as they grow older not when they are older. There used to be a location marker in South St. Pete at a park there where Ponce DeLeon was looking for the fountain of youth he never found it and neither has Brady.
I agree we need to go with a QB who has fresh legs and can get outside and run. One who can extend plays to create something out of nothing. Pocket passing only works when you have an Oline that can create a pocket for the QB to step up into, otherwise, he has to move away from the pass rush and then pass the ball or tuck it and run. Watching all of these types of QBs play for everyone else but our team shows me that it can and does work. Brady never was a run threat at QB, he never had to be. The facts are this is 23 years after he was drafted, the game has changed, Oline play in college has changed, and Run threat QBs make it difficult to cover all the receivers. Thanks, Tom Brady. But it is time for the Buccaneers to move into the 21st century of Football play design. Monken is my favorite choice, from what we know is being looked at currently.
Go!!!!! Bucs!!!!!
January 20th, 2023 at 3:03 pm
They have a slew of free agents and are 43M over the salary cap. Brady will return to a worse team than the 8/9 they were this season. Ppl are delusional if they think Brady returning means another championship. Did you watch the Cowboys game? They got demolished on both sides of the ball. The real score was 31-6. That’s a shellacking. Brady will play elsewhere or more likely retire. It’s over.
January 20th, 2023 at 3:53 pm
If Tom Brady retires now, I’ll lose a little respect for him. You don’t get a divorce, especially from Giselle, so you can play an extra 4 months.
In my opinion, when he decided to divorce Giselle (and apparently the main reason for Giselle doing it was Brady still wanting to play), then he must have been thinking that he wants to play for at least 2 more years.
And as far as I’m concerned, if his body and mind are up to it, he should keep playing even after that.
Not that many people can say they do what they love for a living.
People are saying he had a down year. Down year my ass. His OL was average at best, and he had to release the ball very fast. WRs had no time to get deep. When they did, Brady had to put a lot of air under the ball to get rid of it early.
Brady is still one of the very best. Like any QB, he does need help.
As Giselle once said, he can’t throw it and catch it. I would say he can’t block, throw it, and catch it.
January 20th, 2023 at 9:03 pm
I’ve often wondered if he and Giselle got divorced to safeguard assets.
That bitcoin thing opened his assets ( and hers ) to exposure.
Perhaps Giselle got everything in the “divorce” wink, wink.
January 20th, 2023 at 9:28 pm
Brady will be back as a Buc. He will sign at least a two year deal, maybe three!!!
January 20th, 2023 at 10:13 pm
Brady will play again. Because he loves it. He’s addicted. I predict he’ll start high but accept far less than “championship team or bust”.
At 46, if he dares dream about another ring, more than ever, he needs an entire team built around him, completely supporting him. In other words, not the Bucs. In other words, not many teams. So I put his chances of success at that level quite low.
The incentive to keep him with the Bucs would be to fire Bowles, such a great HC that he and Brady were distant. Typical Bowles, distant, weird, cold, ignorant about the art of managing a team.
But if Brady can’t find any better takers out there, he will crawl back to familiarity, even this inferior mess.
January 21st, 2023 at 1:52 am
If bowles was fired I would be happy but he is a LOSER and no matter who plays quarter back we will lose 3 win team
January 21st, 2023 at 4:39 pm
What other division will get you a playoff spot with 9 loses?