Getty Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers both changed teams late in their careers.
It didn’t take long for comparisons to emerge between the recent Aaron Rodgers trade and Tom Brady joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers three years earlier.
Current Bucs head coach Todd Bowles, who coached Brady in 2022, sees major similarities to Rodgers joining the New York Jets via a trade. Bowles coached defense with the Bucs when Brady arrived in 2020 after 20 years with the New England Patriots. Bowles also notably coached the Jets from 2015 to 2018, and three of those four seasons were losing campaigns.
“There’s a lot of buzz when you get someone like that in your building,” Bowles said via ESPN. “They give you a lot of hope. You’re bringing in a lot of character, a proven winner who has done it. It excites the fan base and it makes everyone on the team up their game if they haven’t already. Nobody wants to let a guy like that down.”
Neither the Bucs nor the Jets enjoyed successful histories prior to their respective superstar quarterback arrivals. The Bucs endured a 12-year playoff drought before Brady’s arrival. The Jets also have a 12-year playoff absence in effect, which Rodgers could correct in a stacked AFC East.
Brady helped the Patriots dominate the AFC East for two decades amid six Super Bowl wins and nine appearances before he headed to Tampa. He led the Bucs to a Super Bowl win in the 2020 season followed by two NFC South division titles before his retirement in February.
Tom Brady 🤝 Aaron Rodgers
Brady finishes 31-42 for 271 yards with a touchdown as Bucs (2-1) lose 14-12. #GBvsTB
Rodgers excelled for 15 seasons as the Green Bay Packers before the trade on Tuesday, April 24. He led the Packers to a Super Bowl win in the 2010 season, and he guided the Packers to another four NFC Championship Game appearances between 2015 and 2021, and the last one occurred against Brady and the Bucs.
Both Brady and Rodgers arrived at new destinations with talented teams in need of a quarterback. The Bucs already had a strong defense and Pro Bowl-caliber skill players such as Mike Evans in 2020. The Jets boasted one of the best defenses in the NFL in 2022, and the team has talented skill players such as Garrett Wilson.
Similarly, Brady and Rodgers have drawn additional talent to their new teams. Former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski and wide receiver Antonio Brown joined Brady in Tampa. Rodgers will throw to former Packers wide receiver Allen Lazard , who signed with the team earlier in the offseason.
Time will tell if Rodgers can deliver similar results as Brady did with a second team.
Aaron Rodgers May not Last as Long as Tom Brady, Insider Says
While Gotham goes wild over Rodgers’ arrival, ESPN’s Rich Cimini noted that Rodgers, 39, doesn’t bring the same durability that Brady did when he changed teams.
Brady didn’t miss a game due to injury for 14 seasons after an ACL tear in 2008. Rodgers missed nine games in 2017 due to a shoulder injury, but he has played full seasons for the past five years.
“Will Rodgers’ body start to break down? Brady was an anomaly. Consider: Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger and Philip Rivers made it to 39 and got out. Eli Manning reached 38. Drew Brees lasted to 41, but missed nine games over his final two years,” Cimini wrote. “Father Time usually starts to assert himself around elite quarterbacks’ 40th birthday. Rodgers turns 40 on Dec. 2.”
Aaron Rodgers Has One Advantage Over Tom Brady
While Brady left behind longtime Patriots head coach Bill Belichick in 2020, Brady started over with a new coaching staff in Tampa under Bruce Arians. It had its ups and downs in 2020 before the Bucs took off late in the season.
Rodgers could have a smoother flight in New York with former Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett guiding the Jets offense. Rodgers said on the “Pat McAfee Show” that Hackett’s presence played a role in his choice of the Jets when he announced it in March.
“There’s a lot of reasons why the Jets are attractive, but there’s one coach who has meant as much to me as any coach I’ve ever had and he happens to be the coordinator there,” Rodgers told McAfee.