If Tom Brady does play in 2023, will any team want him…

If Tom Brady does play in 2023, will any team want him after the way he’s played this season?

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On Sunday night, a friend and I were talking football, as we do when we hang out. Tom Brady was top of mind after the quarterback’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers got blown out so badly by the San Francisco 49ers that FOX switched away from the game in the third quarter.

My friend asked me to predict where Brady would play in 2023, and I immediately said the Niners, the team Brady rooted for while growing up in California. It’s a team that’s already a contender this year and would presumably have that same status next year when Brady’s set to become a free agent.

But my friend then asked a great question: Given how Brady’s played this year — he’s thrown more than one touchdown just four times this year, he hasn’t looked like his GOAT self in the pocket — is anyone really going to want him?

After thinking this one over, I think … yes. Around the league, there are teams with some struggles at the quarterback position who think this version of Brady with some weapons around him could thrive for just one more year. The Jets? Would the Raiders and former longtime Brady coach Josh McDaniels be interested? The aforementioned Niners? The report from NFL.com is that “all options are on the table” for next year.

But let’s reflect on getting to this place. Could you ever imagine us questioning whether Brady would be a desirable option? I guess we never expected that the ageless Brady would have Father Time catch up with him.

Yet here we are. In what might be Brady’s worst year ever on and off the field, the offseason looms just as large as the last time we wondered about where he was going (or staying).

But the circumstances are so much more different.