It only took a couple of verbal caveats for Tom Brady to stoke speculation about his imminent return just one week after retiring.
On Wednesday, the Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud published a column outlining how the Buccaneers are viewing Brady’s dance. He reports the team is confident Brady would only want to play for them.
“The Bucs would like nothing more than for Brady to change his mind about retirement, and they have every expectation that he will play in Tampa Bay if he does,” Stroud writes. “Brady has been happy playing for the Bucs and living in the Tampa Bay area. He knows there isn’t anything the Bucs wouldn’t do if he decided to continue his career. They would sign any player. Give him whatever he thinks he needs to win. There would be no reason to leave.”
There’s been some discussion in recent weeks over what went wrong in Tampa, considering Brady signed a two-year extension with the Bucs last March. Clearly, he didn’t enter this season thinking it would be his last.
It’s been reported Brady grew disillusioned with Bruce Arians’ more hands-off style, especially in the aftermath of their devastating Divisional Round loss to the Rams.
Ultimately, the leverage lies with Brady. He could try and force a trade by telling the Bucs he’ll only come back to play for somebody else. Then Tampa Bay would decide either to trade Brady for assets or spite him.
The latter would probably feel good, but the former would be what’s best for the football team.
The Florida lifestyle might be one of the Bucs’ strongest selling points. After all, Brady and Gisele are just settling into their cozy $17 million mansion on “billionaire’s bunker.” Ivanka and Jared are just down the road!
But playing for the Bucs may not be the road to a ring. For Brady, winning usually trumps all.
