Tom Brady decided to call it a career after 2021 but now there are rumors he could change his mind but that he might return with a new team.
Tom Brady is done with the NFL. Unless he’s not.
Not long after announcing he was retired from the league, Tom Brady is already discussing un-retiring. Of course, he hasn’t come out and said he plans on playing in 2022 but he simply said “never say never” as he’s apparently leaving the door open to change his mind.
However, Albert Breer has now dropped a bombshell as the NFL insider told Rich Eisen that if TB12 does return, it will likely be on a team other than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
https://twitter.com/RichEisenShow/status/1491491466169896961?s=20&t=ZdH8xqLBWMf5-jjycFlPHQ
Of course, Tampa Bay does have Brady’s rights after extending his original two-year deal by one season which means if he did leave, a trade would have to be facilitated. With that being the case, here are the three teams that would most likely be willing to make a trade for Brady.
Tom Brady destination No. 3: Arizona Cardinals
Tom Brady has been in the league so long that many of his early teammates have moved onto the coaching ranks. One such player is Kliff Kingsbury who was a sixth-round pick of the New England Patriots back in 2003.
Kingsbury moved into coaching in 2008 with the Houston Texans before moving to Texas A&M as an offensive coordinator and then to Texas Tech in 2013 as head coach. He eventually became the coach for the Arizona Cardinals, a position he has held for two seasons.
While Kingsbury and the Cards improved in 2021, there are rumors that Kyler Murray wants out — and he’s been recruited by Mike Evans of the Bucs. Perhaps a switch could take place where Arizona sends the unhappy Murray to Tampa Bay in exchange for Brady — who could potentially help them finally win their first Super Bowl.
Tom Brady destination No. 2: Pittsburgh Steelers
One of the quarterbacks who has been in the league nearly as long as Tom Brady is Ben Roethlisberger — although he did come to the league a couple of years after Brady. Still, Big Ben joined the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2004 and held the starting job until this past season.
After making it to the playoffs and losing against the Chiefs, Roethlisberger decided to call it a career which leaves the Steelers looking for their next signal-caller. They do have some options with Mason Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins but there are some huge concerns there.
For Rudolph, he’s been decent when he has played but if anyone thinks he’s an unquestioned leader, they must not have paid attention to him in press conferences. He clearly doesn’t exude confidence and in a sport where your quarterback is the face of the franchise, he doesn’t stand apart.
As for Haskins, he was a mess in Washington and while the Steelers are hoping they can revive his career, it’s probably not ideal to turn things over to a guy who was dumped by a team that’s as bad under center as the Commanders are.
With all that being said, it would make sense for the Steelers to try and convince Brady to come to Pittsburgh. Sure, he would have to play in cold weather again but he would be able to serve as the face of one of the more historic franchises in the NFL — and might even be able to knock his old team out of the playoffs.
Tom Brady destination No. 1: San Francisco 49ers
Every kid that loves football dreams about one day wearing the uniform of their favorite team and leading them to a Super Bowl trophy. For someone such as Brady who has played until his mid-40s, he clearly has always had a deep love for the game and was no doubt picturing himself in a certain uniform for much of his youth.
It’s no secret that Brady grew up a huge fan of the San Francisco 49ers — we’ve all seen the pictures of him attending games where he was cheering on his hometown team. There has also been speculation throughout the years that he could one day wear the red and gold while trying to bring the Niners back to glory.
That’s why the top team that could lure Brady out of retirement is the 49ers, and they could also make a trade offer that might appeal to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Currently, the Niners have Jimmy Garoppolo, who was coincidentally Brady’s backup at one point in New England. Jimmy G could be offered in a trade to bring Brady home and both teams would seemingly be happy as the Bucs would have a new starter while the 49ers would get a shot at winning it all with Brady and a stacked roster.
Of course, the one hang-up is Trey Lance who they took No. 3 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft. While they do want to turn things over to him, adding Brady would be worth putting off that transition for one more season.