Buccaneers’ Tom Brady Gets Honest About 17-Game Season

As Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady readied himself the second half of the season, he let everyone know his thoughts on the new 17-game schedule.

“I think it’s pointless. I thought it was a terrible decision. I don’t like the fact that we’re playing a 17th game at all. I think 16 is plenty,” Brady said on his podcast, Let’s Go! on Monday. “You’re eight games into the year and you’re not halfway through, so that’s kind of a little frustrating. Whatever. We’ll play it. It’s there.”

Tampa Bay (6-2) has nine games to go, starting with the Washington Football Team on Sunday. Brady and the Bucs look to bounce back from a Week 8 loss to New Orleans but will have to do it amid injuries. Bucs injuries include Antonio Brown, Rob Gronkowski, Giovani Bernard, Chris Godwin, Jason Pierre-Paul, Dee Delaney, Steve McLendon, and Rashard Robinson on Thursday’s injury report.

Missed games doesn’t justify the NFL adding a 17th in Brady’s mind.

“A lot of guys probably miss games over the course of the season anyway, so they probably don’t play all 16, most guys,” Brady said on his podcast. But if you’re fortunate to be able to make it through a season and you gotta play the 17th game, I think there are a lot of things that I would adjust to the offseason, the regular-season schedule.”

“A lot of people know my feelings on some of these topics,” he added. “I’ve been pretty vocal about NFL issues over the last couple years, and some of the things that are done that I don’t necessarily think are in the best interest of the game.”

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A Night Off?

Star players taking a night off in the NBA became a thing in recent years. Jim Gray, host of the Let’s Go! podcast, asked Brady about that possibility of NFL players following suit.

“I think there’s definitely a threshold where there’s too much,” Brady said. “A lot of it’s going to be based on your recovery. Your ability to get back to where you need to be for the week of practice because it’s not just a game, it’s a week of practice, too.”

“It’s a demolition derby out there,” Brady added.

Teams with playoff seeds secured or nothing to play for could sit starters the last weekend of the season. That may become more difficult with a 17-game season and seven playoff spots in each conference.

The Bucs sit in third seed for the NFC playoff picture at this time with the NFC South division lead, which means a Wild Card game. Arizona (8-1) won without stars Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins last Sunday, which suggest the Cardinals will be tough for the Bucs to catch for the No. 1 seed and the only bye.

With the expanded schedule and playoff format, no team is mathematically out of it yet — including the Houston Texans (1-8) and Detroit Lions (0-8). Even Tampa Bay’s Week 17 opponent, the New York Jets (2-6), could still be fighting for a playoff spot when facing the Bucs.

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Living With 17 Games

Brady told Gray it comes down to revenue and the owners simply have more say than the players union.

“That’s what it’s about like most things,” Brady said on the podcast. “We’re in a commercial business. We’re in an entertainment business, so if you’re in ownership — the more the better.”

“We’re basically a commodity,” Brady added, regarding the players.

He said it comes down to playing on the owners’ terms but hopes change occurs in the future if the players union can have more success in negotiations. For instance, Brady doesn’t believe preseason games “are very necessary at this point” and joint practices during training camp would work instead.

“If you’re going to increase games, you’ve got to decrease in other areas,” Brady said.

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