Will Tom Brady Retire?

There is an inevitable day in the near future that Patriots fans do not talk about, but know will arrive soon and is unavoidable. It will be the day that the greatest football player to ever live decides to finally walk away from the game. Tom Brady has shown no signs of slowing down, even at the ripe age of 44. Brady has won four more Super Bowls since his career was declared over by many media critics after an embarrassing 41-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4 of the 2014 season. But just like the Patriot were “On to Cincinnati” after that brutal game, Brady may soon be on to the next chapter of his life.

“When will Brady retire? Will he really play until he’s 45, or are his expectations unrealistic?” TB12 will be 45 this August. The questions are always asked and the doubts are always expressed, but Tom has made it as far as he said he would. Now, the GOAT is putting his perspective taking skills (that he raves about in his “Man in the Arena” series) to use as the end of his career is in plain sight. So, what may be going on behind the scenes?

There is no doubt Brady is seriously considering walking away, but why? Brady signed an extension at the beginning of the 2021 campaign. He promised the Buccaneers two years when he first signed back in 2020 and fulfilled that. What’s changed since the two sides reworked the deal for a third year?

Brady and Arians

In his weekly appearance last week on the Zolak and Bertrand Show on 98.5 The Sports Hub, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated stated he’s been told that Brady has a “newfound respect” for how Coach Belichick runs his program. Brady now has two seasons under Bruce Arians to compare the “average NFL coach’s” philosophies to Coach Belichick. Breer went on to say that Brady feels he is doing “more than he should be on a weekly basis” to help the team prepare for their upcoming matchup. Do the Patriots send an all-out blitz with little time to communicate that to all 11 players on their field? Do they leave Cooper Kupp 1-1 with a second year safety?

Arians made it public that he did not want Antonio Brown on his team before the Buccaneers signed him in October 2020. So, why did Tampa Bay sign the all-pro when their own coach didn’t want him? Because if Tom Brady wants AB then Tom Brady gets AB. It is rare for a player’s demands to overrule a head coach, but Brady would get that treatment from every NFL team besides the Patriots. Arians has not been afraid to call out Brady publicly for his play, even going as far as blaming him for miscommunications and interceptions. The two have competed in a constant power struggle from the start. One is left to imagine how deep this tug of war runs behind the scenes.

Offensive Coordinator Byron Leftwich is a prime candidate to become a head coach this offseason. Arains has already stated that he will take over the play calling duties if Leftwich does leave. How does Tom feel about that?

Buccaneers 2022 Roster

The “Brady Effect” gifted Tampa Bay a slew of veteran studs, including Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Brown (for some time), Ndamukong Suh, Jason Pierre-Paul, and others. Their Super Bowl campaign incentivized their 2021 free agents, such as Chris Godwin, Shaq Barrett, Lavonte David etc., to run it back. Tampa Bay was the first Super Bowl winning team to have all 22 starters return for the following season. The reason why? Tom Brady. However, the Buccaneers once again have core players set to be UFAs and only roughly $19.4 million in cap space ahead of 2022. They will not be able to resign Godwin, JPP, Suh, Gronkowski, Jensen, Fournette, Davis, Whitehead and others as easily as they did last year. Will the Buccaneers be able to field a championship contender?

What does he have left to prove?

If the Buccaneers can’t maintain their elite roster, what other incentives does Brady have to return for one more year? He has all the records. no one will match his seven rings anytime soon. So, what is left? Brady went to a loser franchise and won a ring in his first year. He of all people in Tampa Bay knows how hard it is to sustain that success, and the Buccaneers seem to be trending in the wrong direction with an older roster and low cap space.

Final Verdict

Before I wrote this blog, I believed Brady would come back for a one-year retirement party. As I write this conclusion, I now believe he will retire. There may be a large turnover in the coaching staff, their cap space prevents them from resigning key players to remain competitive, and Brady has nothing left to prove. He has plenty waiting for him in his next chapter to keep him busy. The GOAT has done it all, and I think Brady and his family are ready to move on.