Add this story to one of the wildest NFL off-seasons ever. On Wednesday evening, NBC Sports’ Peter King broke the news that Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians would be stepping away from his position, to be replaced by defensive coordinator Todd Bowles.
Arians told King that his new position in the Bucs’ front office would be “senior consultant for football,”, which will start with Tampa Bay’s 2022 draft preparations.
According to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, this decision had been coming for a while, and Tom Brady was informed of it when he ended his short-term retirement to come back to the team. The team insisted that Arians’ decision was not at all related to Brady’s return.
“Succession has always been huge for me,” Arians said in a telephone interview with NBC Sports and the Los Angeles Times. “With the organization in probably the best shape it’s been in its history, with Tom Brady coming back … I’d rather see Todd in position to be…