Tom

Brady

The circumstances under which Brady would be willing to return are about what you’d expect. Brady said if a team in contention were to have lost its quarterback late in a season, he would be open to a return. Now a full year removed from the game and set to begin a broadcasting career this upcoming season; it’s hard to imagine Brady, who will be 47 in August, stepping in after more than a year away to help a hypothetical contender. As Brady also pointed out, he’s hoping to become a minority owner of the Raiders, and he doesn’t know if the league would allow him to return if he were holding a stake in another team.

Brady insists he has retired for the last time. The mere existence of a report like this shows the lengths to which the Jets might go to sign a viable starting quarterback should Zach Wilson play as poorly as he did in 2021 and 2022. Brady, meanwhile, will probably have to deny comeback rumors until his 50s.

Brady’s purchase in a minority stake in the Raiders, coupled with Jimmy Garoppolo’s foot injury, has once again spurred speculation of Brady returning. Brady squashing rumors of a return has become commonplace since he announced his retirement in February and will likely continue through the remainder of the season. Brady’s status will be one to monitor if the Raiders cut ties with Garoppolo this offseason. However, it appears the future hall of famer is intent on staying retired regardless of how many times he’s asked.

Garoppolo is expected to miss the Raiders’ OTAs. Reed said Jimmy G’s recovery timeline is unknown but “the sense is that the team is confident he’ll be ready to play by the start of the regular season.” Head coach Josh McDaniels wouldn’t answer directly on Thursday when asked if Garoppolo had undergone surgery on the foot he injured late last season. It’s curious timing for such a procedure -- four months after Garoppolo suffered the injury against the Dolphins in Week 13. Garoppolo, who has missed 31 games over the past four seasons, has a long history of strange timing for surgical procedures. Brian Hoyer or rookie QB Aidan O’Connell could get starts for the down-bad Raiders if Garoppolo isn’t ready for the regular season. Tom Brady’s involvement with the Raiders could take on renewed interest too.

As mentioned above, this sale is still pending league approval, but it appears as if Brady is set to partner with Raiders owner Mark Davis, who he is already partnered with as a minority with his stake in the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces. Brady is also set to join Fox Sports next year as an analyst and is already involved with several other personal business ventures. Of all the rumors surrounding Brady, the one that has yet to gain any real steam is the possibility of a comeback. The 45-year-old future hall of famer has remained mostly quiet on the prospects of another comeback.

The ever-restless Brady is reportedly considering pulling out of his broadcasting agreement with Fox Sports and joining Mark Davis as a limited partner with the Raiders. There has also been some loose talk of Brady getting involved with the Dolphins, perhaps as a part-owner and perhaps as a player. It’s hard to say what Brady, 45, is going to do next. If he joins the Raiders, hopefully he can pass on some helpful advice to Jimmy Garoppolo.

What he actually said was: “I will say now that I’m not affiliated with any team anymore, even though I have strong ties with a couple teams, I do have some friends on the Dolphins that I really like. So, I wouldn’t say I necessarily root for them all the time, but I root for my friends to do well, and several of them play for Miami.” I’s going to take a stronger denial from Brady on this question -- especially given how the Dolphins lost their first-round pick secretly trying to recruit him -- before we’re ready to call it completely on his chances of unretiring. Tua Tagovailoa’s revelation that he contemplated retirement only adds to the potential smoke.

The Buccaneers are currently $55 million over the cap and will truly be in cap hell if they decide to not move some of Brady’s contract around via post-June 1 shenanigans. Donovan Smith is the only player on the roster that will create more than $5 million in cap savings without a post-June 1 designation. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo says that the plan is to “retool while still competing,” and notes that they may not have the money to chase a quarterback like Jimmy Garoppolo. It’s possible that Kyle Trask enters the season as Tampa’s starting quarterback if they are committed to eating Brady’s salary cap hit in 2023.

Brady has already inked a lucrative broadcasting deal with FOX but won’t hit the booth for at least another season. Instead, he’ll reportedly spend much of 2023 focusing on his family and spending time with them. Of course, this one-year buffer between career changes also begs the question of whether or not Brady would consider returning to the field in 2023 under the right circumstances -- something that will likely be speculated on throughout the offseason and in-season should a contender lose its starting quarterback. Brady has already said his intent is to stay retired “for good” but if he feels the need to scratch his playing itch, he’s given himself enough wiggle room to do so.

Brady in a video statement acknowledged his 2022 agonizing back-and-forth on whether to leave the game and said there would be none of that this time around. Brady, 45, leaves the NFL as the greatest quarterback to ever play, with seven Super Bowls -- six with the Patriots and one with the Bucs. He leaves the league with a plethora of records, including passing touchdowns, passing yards, completions, division titles, wins, and quarterback starts. He is the only player in league history to beat all 32 teams, and owns nearly every postseason quarterback record. Brady ended his otherwise spectacular career with two disappointing seasons in Tampa; his final NFL game was a blowout loss to the Cowboys at home. Though he hasn’t lost much as a passer, Brady’s willingness to stand in and absorb a hit had completely vanished by his age-45 season, affecting how he operated in the pocket and delivered difficult throws. As fiery a competitor as there will ever be in any sport, Brady played long enough to become a living legend on the field -- an almost mythical presence for opponents who were not born when Brady took over the starting job in New England in 2000. Without Brady, the Bucs will likely shift into rebuild mode for the coming years, perhaps parting with some of their key players as the organization seeks draft capital.