Getty Tom Brady turned down the Chargers in free agency.
As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers square off with the Los Angeles Chargers, many are revisiting Tom Brady’s free agency and his decision to ultimately move south. The Chargers are believed to be one of the finalists that Brady considered, but the Buccaneers quarterback shot down the idea that he almost signed with Los Angeles.
“No, I love the fact where I chose to play, and I love playing with our coaches, playing with the players we have on this team, so I made a great decision, and I love what we have going on here,” Brady said, per Tampa Bay Times. “We’ve got a lot of work we’re putting into it. We didn’t have the benefit of the offseason program or training camp.”
Brady continued to preach patience as he builds chemistry with his new teammates in Tampa. He does not appear to have any second thoughts about his decision to sign with the Bucs adding he has “loved every minute that I’ve been here.”
“We’re going to continue to be kind of a work in progress and try to get better every week, every day, every meeting, every walk-through, every time we can talk about football and figure out how to put all the pieces together,” Brady added. “We’re working on it on a daily basis. It’s a great organization. I’ve loved every minute that I’ve been here. Other than losing a game against the Saints, you know, we’ve had a lot of great games.”
Byron Leftwich on Tom Brady’s Transition: ‘It’s Not Really All About Him Having to Do the Learning’
While Brady is still getting comfortable in a new offense, the Buccaneers are trying to take the pressure off their quarterback. Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich emphasized that it is a learning process for the entire team, not just Brady.
“It’s still a learning process really for all of us,” Leftwich explained at his weekly press conference. “It’s not really all about him having to do the learning. I think we as coaches have to do some learning. I think we as players have to do some learning because it is all different. We’re having some instances happen for the first time in football games and we’re just having the opportunity to really talk about them because they are unique to what happened that day, that play.”
Brady’s Free Agency Was More Complicated Than Considering the Bucs & Chargers
The Buccaneers and Chargers were the two teams consistently mentioned at the end of Brady’s free agency. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport noted, “there were a few more teams interested than previously reported.”
Rapoport added the Buccaneers had competition within the NFC South as the Saints intended to make a run at Brady before learning Drew Brees was coming back for another season. The Bears were another team that made an offer for Brady, but it did come down to the Buccaneers and Chargers as finalists.
“While there was a lot to like, Brady didn’t warm to the idea of playing in the cold again, leaving the Chargers and Bucs as the finalists,” Rapoport explained.
Buccaneers fans are glad Brady did not head west and the new Tampa Bay quarterback seems pleased as well. As for the Chargers, it looks like they have found their quarterback of the future in Justin Herbert who will get his biggest test yet against a stout Buccaneers defense.
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