Since Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady could go any number of directions in 2023, joining a longtime rival in the New York Jets looks all the more realistic.
Both The Athletic and New York Post called the Jets as potential destination for Brady in 2023 as a free agent. While Brady, 45, could retire, his continued solid play and a health leave the door open to another chapter.
The Jets turned things around this season with a solid defense, but New York remains unsettled at quarterback. Brady, who once beat the Jets once or twice a year with the New England Patriots, could solve the quarterback issue for a year.
“The Jets also have young, blossoming talent at running back and wide receiver,” The Athletic’s Mike Jones wrote. “New York brass would have some work to do on the offensive line, but Brady at his current level seemingly would give this long-suffering, yet on-the-rise, franchise legitimate Super Bowl aspirations.”
Tom Brady beat the Jets and then signed an autograph for one of them who had a pick against him.
The New York Post’s Mark W. Sanchez called it “tabloid and sports-radio gold” if Brady came to the Big Apple.
“He loves winning, and he would love beating [Patriots head coach] Bill Belichick,” Sanchez wrote. “The Jets, forever a hated rival of Brady’s, could offer him the opportunity for both.”
Brady’s Bucs’ Year Turned Turbulent at Jets
Brady has a 31-8 career record against the Jets, including a win with the Bucs on January 2 this year. It hasn’t been an easy year for Brady with the Bucs since that day.
Bucs star wide receiver Antonio Brown quit the team amid a wild 28-24 win where the Bucs struggled for much of the game before an 11-point fourth quarter. Similar challenges followed as the Bucs fell to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Divisional Round, and Brady retired afterward for 41 days during a rollercoaster offseason.
After Brady unretired in March, then-head coach Bruce Arians stepped down and former Jets head coach and then-Bucs offensive coordinator Todd Bowles took the head job. The Bucs then lost key players such as Rob Gronkowski to retirement or free agency plus a major knee injury to Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen on the first day of training camp.
Brady then went on an 11-day absence from training camp, but the Bucs started strong, going 2-0 in the early regular season, after he came back. Since, the Bucs have gone 4-8 as the offense has struggled, and the defense bore the weight of it many times.
How Brady Fits With the Jets
Brady still does things that could attract suitors in free agency — two comeback wins, completing 66% of his passes, and 20 touchdowns versus seven interceptions this season.
For the Jets, Brady could help in the turnover department where second-year quarterback Zach Wilson has struggled with six interceptions in eight games this year plus 11 as a rookie in 2021. Jets backup quarterback Mike White has shown promise with 952 yards and three touchdowns versus two picks in three games, but he will become a free agent in 2023.
The Jets have $16 million in s salary cap to sign Brady and tweak around him versus the Bucs’ $40 million over the cap for next year per Spotrac. The Bucs also have droves of free agents to re-sign on an aging roster. While the Jets have their share of free agents to re-sign, the team has a younger roster.
Off the field, if Brady went back to the northeast, he would live closer to his oldest son, Jack, who attends high school in New York. Brady’s other two children live in Miami.
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Tom Brady Linked to Rival for 2023