This is obviously incredible news for the Buccaneers, who have enjoyed an unprecedented era of success in the two years since Brady signed with the team in March of 2020. Tampa Bay has won 29 of 39 games, including the postseason, in that span, capturing the Super Bowl LV championship in 2020 and winning the NFC South division title in 2021 while tying for the league’s best regular-season record.
“Tom Brady loves to play football as much as anyone I have ever been around,” said Head Coach Bruce Arians. “As Tom said, his place right now is on the football field. He is still playing at a championship level and was as productive as anyone in the league last season. We are ecstatic that he decided to continue playing and working toward winning another championship.”
After the Buccaneers’ loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Divisional Round – in which Brady stunningly rallied the Bucs from a 24-point deficit to tie the game with 42 seconds left – the 15-time Pro Bowler announced that he was “not going to make that competitive commitment anymore.” It comes as little surprise that, in fact, Brady is still driven by his unmatched competitive spirit.
And there is no doubt about Brady’s ability to lead one of the NFL’s most explosive offenses, even as he prepares to enter his 23rd season at the age of 45. In 2020, Brady led the league in most passing categories, including passing yards (5,316), touchdown passes (43), pass attempts (719) and completions (485). He set a new single-season NFL record for completions and became just the second quarterback ever to surpass 5,000 passing yards in a season two different times.
Brady’s decision comes just five days after the Buccaneers placed the franchise tag on wide receiver Chris Godwin, one of the most important players in an offense that led the league in passing yards in 2021 and finished second in scoring. The Buccaneers face a number of additional free agency issues in the coming weeks, with more than 20 players from…