Tom Brady has decided not to retire for the 2022 NFL season and is instead returning to the Buccaneers for his 23rd year in the league.
Tom Brady won’t be giving up on the NFL that easily.
The GOAT is returning to the Buccaneers for his 23rd NFL season, an announcement he made on Twitter on Sunday evening.
These past two months I’ve realized my place is still on the field and not in the stands. That time will come. But it’s not now. I love my teammates, and I love my supportive family. They make it all possible. I’m coming back for my 23rd season in Tampa. Unfinished business LFG pic.twitter.com/U0yhRKVKVm
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) March 13, 2022
Tom Brady is coming back for another run in 2022
Tom Brady pulled a Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street and told the rest of the NFL that he ain’t f***in’ leavin’.
The NFL still needs Tom Brady, and it’s getting another year of him.
Brady was playing at an exceptionally high level in 2021 yet again, proving that his best days are not necessarily behind him. He completed 67.5 percent of his passes last season with 43 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, playing all 17 games for the Buccaneers.
The way the Buccaneers had been approaching the 2022 quarterback carousel certainly made it seem like they had an inkling this could happen.
At the Scouting Combine, Bucs general manager Jason Licht told the media that Tom Brady is a guy you always leave the light on for. They left the light on for him, and he came back after 40 days of “retirement”.
Not that Brady is only allowed to retire after his game falls off a cliff (we assume that will happen at some point, right?), but it would have been a shame to see him walk away while still playing MVP-caliber ball.
At this point, Brady is the undisputed GOAT in the NFL and as a living legend, he certainly deserved the right to make this decision in his own timing. The Buccaneers are facing some substantial questions about the rest of their roster as things currently stand, however.
There are free agents galore on both sides of the ball, but Brady has one of his top targets back in the fold for 2022 in Chris Godwin, who was given the franchise tag.
It was the move to tag Godwin that perhaps was the clearest giveaway that the Bucs were planning on a return from Brady because they might have to sacrifice having cornerback Carlton Davis as a result.
Letting Godwin hit free agency and leave would potentially have impacted Brady’s decision.
Now, he’s back for another run and the NFC looks like it will be as wide open as ever.