Getty The Bucs want Tom Brady back for 2021.
It comes as no surprise that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers want Tom Brady back for the 2021 season. Brady signed a two-year, $50 million contract with the Buccaneers last offseason, but there are still going to be questions about his status for 2021. Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reported the Bucs not only want Brady back for his play on the field but view the quarterback as a potential opportunity to recoup lost revenue given the ongoing pandemic.
“There’s been a growing sense in league circles in recent weeks that Buccaneers ownership views getting Brady back for a second season as a critical piece of their financial picture,” Florio noted. “The pandemic kept the Buccaneers from selling all tickets for the first time in a very long time. By next year, the public-health crisis likely will have subsided to the point that will allow the Bucs to open the floodgates again.”
Brady Could Play Beyond the Age of 45
Brady has publicly stated he wants to play until at least the age of 45 which would put the quarterback beyond his current contract. The Bucs quarterback would need to play in the 2022 season to accomplish this goal. After Brady signed with the Bucs this offseason, ESPN’s Ian O’Connor surprisingly stated on WEEI’s Dale & Keefe that Brady is privately talking about pushing his career well beyond 45.
“I do think he’s got a lot of football left in him,” O’Connor said, per Boston.com. “In fact, I had a phone conversation with him of about an hour 2-3 years ago where we were talking about Tom Brady playing until age 46, 47, maybe even 48. So I don’t think he’s stopping at 45, as long as he’s — I really don’t. I never thought he was going to stop at 45. I think he has four or five left and I think he will play a fairly high level of football for Tampa Bay.”
The Bucs Want to Ensure Brady Plays in 2021
Brady is no doubt focused on finishing this season on a high note, but the Bucs front office is looking to ensure the star quarterback fulfills the second year of his contract in Tampa. Florio wonders if Brady will grow tired of Bruce Arians’ blunt approach.
“He’s technically under contract to the Bucs for next season, but nothing stops him from asking to be released,” Florio added. “Brady also could easily retire until he’s released or traded for peanuts; since he received no signing bonus, he’d owe the team none of the $25 million he received in 2020. At the heart of the question of whether Brady will want to return to Tampa is whether he’ll want to continue to be the pincushion for criticism, both overt and subtle, regarding the performance of the offense. Coach Bruce Arians routinely creates the impression that any and all offensive struggles trace to Brady, that he has full power to pick plays and that any failed decision are his, not the coaching staff’s.”
This feels like a bit of a stretch as Bill Belichick has never been accused of being cuddly. Belichick and Arians have their differences, but Brady is surely not blindsided by the Bucs head coach’s public criticism. Brady is doing his best to make sure this Bucs’ season is one to be remembered, while the organization is ensuring they get a follow-up tour in 2021.
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