Buccaneers are keeping the light on for Tom Brady in 2022

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are obviously respecting Tom Brady’s decision to retire in 2022, but they’re also going to keep the light on for him.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are one of a number of NFL teams in the 2022 offseason experiencing the unfortunate effects of supply and demand at the quarterback position. NFL legend Tom Brady announced his retirement from the league, but it should be noted that he’s not on the reserve/retired list just yet.

At least not according to the Buccaneers’ official roster.

In other words, Brady has said he’s retiring but now we all have to wait for him to, you know, actually do it.

Buccaneers will absolutely leave the door open for Tom Brady to return

If Tom Brady is actually going to retire, we’ll know in due time as the Buccaneers have to make alternate plans without him. Perhaps general manager Jason Licht and head coach Bruce Arians will recruit Brady back and see if he’ll give them at least one more year and one more shot at a championship before re-evaluating in 2023.

Licht made an appearance on Good Morning Football with host Peter Schrager, and let everyone know that the Bucs aren’t going to turn the light out on a potential return for Tom Brady.

Among the other things Licht said, take note of the way he answered questions about the future at the position and potentially moving on from Tom Brady.

"Tom is a special player, special person, we’ve had a great two years here. Right now we’re trying to make our plans to move forward if that’s the case that we need to move forward on…Buccaneers GM Jason Licht on Tom Brady (via GMFB)"

If that’s the case.

Very interesting wording right there from the Bucs general manager and it certainly seems like the door is wide open for a return.

Perhaps Brady just wants to spend the offseason with his family. Perhaps he really does want to retire.

Aaron Rodgers essentially took the 2021 offseason off and has talked plenty about how much that time away has meant to him. I’m sure the Buccaneers would welcome the opportunity for Brady to stay home most of the offseason, come back for training camp, and allow Kyle Trask to come into OTAs and prepare like a starter so they can gauge his development.

The Buccaneers are in a unique spot right now because they built their roster around the Tom Brady window, not really knowing when this day could possibly come.

With Brady retiring, you can’t help but wonder how that changes the entirety of free agency for this franchise and which players would actually want to come back.

There’s plenty of uncertainty with this team but TB12 certainly takes the Buccaneers from being a team that nobody really thinks will do much of anything to a legitimate Super Bowl contender.