The Buccaneers keep giving Tom Brady everything the Patriots wouldn’t: continuity, deference, and his best buddies.
Tampa Bay re-signed Antonio Brown Wednesday, making it the first team since 1979 to bring back all of its Super Bowl starters. Bill Belichick always made changes after Super Bowl wins. The Bucs are literally just running the whole damn thing back.
As Brady will undoubtedly post many times on Instagram between now and Week 1: “#LFG!!!!”
Some of these moves appear to be more about placating Brady than building a sustainable winner — namely the decisions to re-sign Brown and Rob Gronkowski. The former is overpaid at $3.1 million guaranteed, and the latter is clearly at the end of his football life (two Super Bowl touchdowns notwithstanding).
But the Buccaneers rightfully aren’t concerned with long-term sustainability. They’re giving Brady everything he wants, because why the hell not? Prior to last season, they were the most winning-challenged franchise in American sports. Now, they’re Super Bowl champions.
Brady’s voidable extension freed up $19 million in cap space this year, defraying the cost for years down the line. That’s allowed the Bucs to franchise Chris Godwin, bring back defensive stars Lavonte David and Shaq Barrett, and retain ancillary pieces such as Leonard Fournette and Ndamukong Suh. They are vanity purchases. Brady will head into Foxboro next season with a Pro Bowl cast.
Meanwhile, the Patriots could still be trotting out Cam Newton.
Tampa Bay’s commitment to Brady is personified with the Brown signing. Just last summer, he was suspended eight games for various violations of the NFL’s Personal Conduct Policy, including burglary and battery charges and various accusations of sexual misconduct. One woman accused him of rape.
But Brady pushed for Brown, and the Bucs signed him when he was cleared to play. As an added bonus, TB12 welcomed AB into his home.
"He’s just getting settled and l know he's looking for places," Brady said at the time. "It's nice to have him around. It's a big transition for him moving across the state not knowing anyone.”
Now, Brown will have an extra year to get acclimated on Florida’s west coast. Hopefully he’s gotten over those jitters.
As long as Brady is there, Brown has nothing to worry about, along with everybody in the circle of trust. Bruce Arians is happy to hand over his team, as long as he’s holding the Lombardi Trophy while doing it.