With the Buccaneers’ 2022 campaign in the books, conversations regarding Tom Brady’s future will start to re-emerge as one of the hottest topics around the NFL.
The future Hall of Fame quarterback turned in a valiant effort to cap his 23rd season in the Bucs' 31–14 wild-card loss to the Cowboys on Monday Night Football. Brady, who ended the regular season by breaking one of his own records, went 35-of-66 for 351 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
At 45 years old—or young, depending on who you ask—Brady will now enter another offseason facing numerous questions. Has the seven-time Super Bowl champion played his last game? Will he come back for a Year 24? Or will he decide to retire for a second and, likely, final time and go into what would be another high-profile career in broadcasting?
To this point, Brady has sounded the part of a player who seems focused on continuing his illustrious career but will his take his time before deciding. Recently, the veteran QB maintained his desire to keep playing prior to Tampa’s Week 17 win over Carolina to claim a third consecutive playoff berth and a second NFC South title in three years.
“Honestly, it’s the furthest thing from my mind,” Brady said of retirement on Dec. 29. “I’m just going to go out there and try to play a great game this week. Our biggest games are ahead of us. We’ve got to do a good job and I’ve got to play quarterback, I’ve got to prepare well and that’s what I’m thinking about.”
Interestingly, Brady’s comments came on the same day that he reached his 8,292nd day as an NFL player, matching the exact number of days between his birthdate (Aug. 3, 1977) and the day he was drafted (April, 16, 2000).
Brady also discussed the topic of retiring on the Dec. 26 episode of his weekly Let’s Go! podcast with sportscaster Jim Gray, where he jokingly responded to a question asking if he would retire and unretire again if his longtime teammate Rob Gronkowski decided to come out of retirement for a second time.
“Well, I think next time I decide to retire, that’s it for me,” Brady said. “So whenever that day comes, we’ll figure it out.”
The lighthearted moment was then followed up by a serious response from Brady on whether he had been seriously contemplating retiring at all in the middle of the season.
“I really don’t,” he said. “I think what I really realized … was you’ve got to be really sure to do that.
“And for me, you know, a lot of people have kind of gone through this situation. I’m going to take my time whenever that time does come.”
While it remains to be seen if Monday’s loss to Dallas is Brady’s last time on the field, there also remains the question of whether or not he would stay with the Bucs if he keeps playing.
Three days prior to the wild-card game, Brady played it coy when asked about recent rumors linking him to the Dolphins and Raiders, a sign that the upcoming offseason could be a wild one, to say the least.
“I don’t know,” Brady said about the rumors. “You guys gotta write something new every day. I just wake up, show up and try to do my job.”
