22 seasons after being taken in the 6th round of the NFL Draft and seven Super Bowl victories later, is the G.O.A.T ready to hang up his cleats and kick back with some avocado ice cream? A report from CBS Sports’ Jason La Confora suggests that Tom Brady, 44, could be leaning towards retirement with an announcement potentially occurring in the “coming days.”
If Brady does choose to walk away following his legendary career, the decision would have a ripple effect on the NFL but especially the NFC South—a division that already saw a shake-up earlier this week when Sean Payton stepped away from the Saints.
Following the reports of Brady’s potential retirement, Thomas Mott says that the Falcons have a golden opportunity to take control of the division in 2022.
“Two years ago, it was ‘Brady’s coming in and he’s going to run the show, the Saints are still a great team led by Sean Payton…we’ll see what the Panthers do with Matt Rhule. The Falcons are the third or fourth best team in the conference.’ Now, If Brady retires and they don’t replace him with Aaron Rodgers or Jimmy Garoppolo or some high-level quarterback, if they do a true rebuild...you could be looking at the Falcons being the best in the NFC South by default," Mott said.
Mott emphasized that, while the Falcons have holes throughout their roster as they enter the offseason, the other franchises in the division have plenty of issues of their own. In addition to losing their coach, the Saints—while talented at multiple positions—are projected to be $71 million over the cap and still face uncertainty at the quarterback position, Matt Rhule is on the hot seat in Carolina with a roster devoid of a franchise quarterback and the Bucs, in this scenario, would be attempting to replace the greatest quarterback of all time.
The Falcons finished the 2021 season with a 7-10 record and showed promise under first-year head coach Arthur Smith, but the team has areas that need to be addressed ahead of year two. This week’s news out of New Orleans and Tampa Bay underscores the importance of the Falcons’ ability to maximize their $12 million in projected cap space and their early draft picks—#8 overall and two second-round picks.
Mott stressed that GM Terry Fontenot should look no further than the defensive line when prioritizing positions of need ahead of free agency and the 2022 NFL Draft. The Falcons ended the year with an anemic 18 total sacks.