Getty Tom Brady broke silence on recent rumors after his first preseason appearance on Saturday, August 27.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are likely heading into their final season with Tom Brady as the team’s franchise quarterback. Brady will be a free agent this upcoming offseason, but all indications are the legendary quarterback plans to retire after the 2022 season, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
“The 45-year-old is heading into what is expected to be his final season in the NFL, according to sources with knowledge of his thinking,” Rapoport wrote on September 11, 2022. “He has never said it publicly, but multiple parties involved acknowledge that after last year’s retirement then unretirement, the end is coming. That is the understanding, that this is the final year.
“…Asked if Brady would play for another team after this year, because he’s a free agent, a source close to the QB emphasized greatly the affection Brady has for the Bucs, from the players to the coaches to the front office to the ownership.”
Brady Vacationed With Gisele in Bahamas During Training Camp Absence: Report
Brady’s personal life has become fodder for speculation, but the quarterback’s extended training camp absence was tied to a family trip to the Bahamas, per Rapoport. During his brief retirement, Brady made a promise to his wife Gisele Bundchen about an extended family vacation.
“It was not a normal training camp, to be sure,” Rapoport noted. “The Buccaneers quarterback took a controversial and mysterious 11-day hiatus, as tabloids openly discussed his private family life. While Tampa Bay prepares to take the field Sunday night against the Cowboys in a highly anticipated game, here is where it all stands with Brady.
“…As for his 11-day hiatus, sources say Brady spent the bulk of it in the Bahamas at a private resort with his family, making good on a mid-retirement promise he made to his wife, Gisele, that he would vacation with them in August for the first time in two decades. During his time off, the Bucs left him alone to be with his family, fully respectful. There were no football conversations, the source said, no playbooks mailed to the Bahamas. It was his personal situation, and they allowed him to live.”
Brady Was Linked to Conversations With the Dolphins
The NFL released the results of their tampering investigation centered around the Dolphins, and the league revealed that the team had contact with Brady while he was under contract with the Buccaneers. Despite the ongoing rumors connecting Brady to teams like Miami and San Francisco, all indications are that Brady will retire rather than explore signing with another team in 2023.
“The Dolphins again had impermissible communications with both Mr. Brady and his agent during and after the 2021 season, while he was under contract to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,” the league stated in an August 2 press release. “Those discussions began no later than early December 2021 and focused on Mr. Brady becoming a limited partner in the Dolphins and possibly serving as a football executive, although at times they also included the possibility of his playing for the Dolphins. Both Mr. Ross and Beal were active participants in these discussions.”
Brady has one year remaining on his current contract with the Buccaneers and is slated to have a $15 million salary for 2022. Despite Kyle Trask and Blaine Gabbert being on the roster, Tampa Bay does not appear to have a concrete plan on who will succeed Brady as the team’s starting quarterback.