Getty Buccaneers QB Tom Brady could call it quits this offseason.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady may be closer to the end than people.
Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports wrote an article regarding Brady’s possible retirement leading into the Buccaneers’ divisional round matchup versus the Los Angeles Rams. During the article, Canfora quotes two sources close to Brady who ponder that this postseason run may be the last of Brady’s career.
Fast forward several days later and the Bucs are now officially eliminated from playoff contention. The immediate focus has shifted to whether or not Brady will return for a 23rd season.
During an appearance on “The Daily Tip” podcast on Tuesday, January 25, the NFL insider predicts that Brady will indeed retire this offseason.
La Canfora on Brady: ‘He’s Going to Retire’
“I think he’s going to retire,” said La Canfora. “I don’t think it has anything to do with how that game, the ebbs and flows and the crazy comebacks and coming up just short, rallying from 24 (points). I think it’s something that he’s been seriously considering for quite some time now. It’s not something he’s talked openly with a lot of people.
…..The more people I talked to in Tampa this week, the more convinced I became that this was the last dance without him actually proclaiming or pronouncing it the last dance. Just the mannerisms, the way he was carrying himself, the number of ticket requests, some of the things he would do after practice. It was leading a lot of his teammates to believe that this was it.
He wasn’t being outwardly vocal about it. But then I talked to some other people in his inner circle and no one pushed back on what I was hearing. No one said ‘hey, of course he’s going to do another contract with the Bucs.'”
The 44-year-old quarterback is coming off of one of the finest seasons of his long, illustrious career. Brady ended the season as one of the leading MVP candidates after leading the league in passes completed (485), touchdown passes (43) and passing yards (5,316).
In fact, the number of completions set an NFL record for a single season, while his passing yardage ranks third in NFL history. The touchdown passes are not only the 10th-best ever for a single season, it’s the second-best total of his career. It’s also his best mark since the 2007 season, when he threw for a then-record 50 touchdown passes.
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Brady Remains Undecided on Return
La Canfora’s prediction seems to hold weight considering even Brady himself remains non-committal for the 2022 season.
During his recent appearance on the Let’s Go! podcast with Jim Gray, Brady discussed what his career plans are moving forward.
“Every year I just have to make sure that I have the ability to commit to what the team really needs, and that’s really important to me,” said Brady. “The team doesn’t deserve anything less than my best. And if I feel like I’m not committed to that, or I can’t play at a championship level, then you gotta give someone else a chance to play. And, you know, we’ll see. There’s a long time between now and the start of next football season.
“I’ve gotta really figure those things out, which is probably natural for anyone,” Brady continued. “And at the same time, I would say this, we never know what’s gonna happen in the future. We really don’t. I mean, Kobe Bryant, a friend of ours, God rest his soul. You think you’re gonna live forever. We’re not. We think we’re gonna play forever. We’re not. What can we do? We can enjoy the moments that we have.”
If Brady decides to retire, it’s unclear which direction the Bucs will head into at quarterback. Outside of Brady, the Bucs have journeyman quarterback Blaine Gabbert as the backup and Kyle Trask, who just completed his rookie season this past year.