The Tampa Bay Buccaneers could be a landing spot for one of Tom Brady’s favorite receivers.
Danny Amendola, who is best known for his stint with the New England Patriots, recently revealed he’d be willing to come out of retirement to play with Brady again. The 37-year-old receiver made the bold statement while appearing on The Herd with Colin Cowherd.
“Tom has done a lot for me,” Amendola said. “If he needs me, I’d always play for Tom. I’m happy not playing. I got enough football. I played for 14 years in the NFL and played a lot of football. My knees feel better on Monday this year watching football from the couch. Of course, if Tom called, I’d have to go back, if he’d summon me out of retirement.”
Amendola Emerged as Favorite Target of Brady
Amendola last played during the 2021 season with the Houston Texans, appearing in just eight games due to dealing with a knee injury during the season. He announced his retirement during the summer of 2022.
The veteran receiver actually had drawn interest from several NFL teams at the time of his retirement.
“Longtime receiver Danny Amendola has decided to retire from the NFL despite receiving interest from multiple teams this offseason.”
During his peak, Amendola was one of Brady’s favorite targets. The diminutive 5-foot-11, 185-pound receiver spent five seasons with the Patriots (2013-2018) and caught 230 passes for 2,283 yards and 12 touchdowns. His most prolific outing in New England came during Super Bowl LII, when he posted 152 receiving yards during the Patriots’ loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Amendola was actually Brady’s eighth-most targeted player during his 20-year career in New England and his fourth-most targeted wide receiver.
Buccaneers Have Too Many Receivers to Sign Amendola
While there’s little doubt Brady and Amendola could pick up right where they left off in New England, the Buccaneers don’t have much room for receivers. Mike Evans and Chris Godwin serve as the starters with Julio Jones and Russell Gage seeing action as the No. 3 and No. 4 receivers.
Gage actually initially signed with Tampa Bay with the idea of him serving as the No. 3 receiver. However, the signing of Jones pushed Gage down to the No. 4 role. For perspective, Gage started nine games last season for the Atlanta Falcons while playing 73 percent of the offensive snaps. By comparison, he’s appeared on just 58 percent of the snaps this season.
Likewise, Jones — a seven-time Pro Bowler and five-time All-Pro selection — has appeared on just 53 percent of the offensive snaps and has 22 receptions for 284 yards and two touchdowns.
The Buccaneers previously experimented with the idea of signing a veteran slot receiver with Cole Beasley earlier in the season. The former All-Pro selection appeared in just two games and caught four passes before announcing his own retirement.
However, the 33-year-old recently came out of retirement after just two months away and signed with the Buffalo Bills. Beasley had recently revealed that he had retired because the Buccaneers weren’t going to use him.
“They weren’t going to use me,” said Beasley on Nov. 6. “They have too many guys getting paid big money for them not to be on the field.”
While the idea of Amendola signing with the Buccaneers for Brady’s potential last ride sounds interesting, it probably won’t happen unless there’s an injury to one of Tampa Bay’s receivers.
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Super Bowl Champion WR Would ‘Absolutely’ Unretire to Play With Tom Brady