America’s Worst Nightmare is Back, And With A Vengeance
Steven Senne | AP Photos
Well, that didn’t last long. Hold off on the congratulations and Hall of Fame induction countdowns, because Tom Brady is back. After just forty days, Brady announced his “un”retirement, coming back for his 23rd NFL season with the Buccaneers. And with a vengeance, at that.
On February 1st, Brady announced his retirement on his social media platforms, stating “I am not going to make that competitive commitment anymore” (Via @tombrady Instagram). Many were surprised, including myself, because of the season that Brady had finished while leading the league in passing yards, completions, touchdowns, and more. The 44-year old quarterback had seemed to retire “too early” as crazy as it is to say. Coming off a season with over 5,300 passing yards and 45 total touchdowns, many thought: why would he possibly hang the cleats up? Well, that question doesn’t have to be answered anymore, because on March 13th, Brady announced to the world that he would in fact be returning from retirement.
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Tampa Bay ended their 2021-2022 season with a loss at home in the divisional round of the playoffs to the eventual Super Bowl champion LA Rams. As Brady stated in his coming back announcement, he and the team have “unfinished business.” While in retirement, the Bucs lost guard Ali Marpet to his own retirement, and had many more players on their ways out with contract negotiations and free agency looming. Since Brady’s announcement to return for another season, the Bucs have resigned free agents Ryan Jensen, Chris Godwin, Carlton Davis, and more. They have also added other free agents such as WR Russell Gage, CB Logan Ryan, and have eyes on other receivers and defensive players. They also traded for star guard Shaq Mason, longtime friend and teammate of Brady’s from New England, a huge addition.
The Buccaneers’ Free Agency is far from over, though. They still have a boatload of key players who are now free agents, such as Ndamukong Suh, Leonard Fournette, Jason Pierre-Paul, and Ronald Jones, to name a few. Another free agent name to watch out for is TE Rob Gronkowski. Now that Brady is back, the consensus is that Gronkowski will return to Tampa Bay, but you never know in this league.
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With Brady back with the Bucs, Tampa’s hopes for another Super Bowl run became that much stronger. According to Fox Bet, the team’s odds to win the Super Bowl while Brady was retired were +2800. Since his return back to the team, their odds have improved a whopping amount to +750. The team will be one to watch as they look to take the NFC back this upcoming season. With a harder schedule facing many tough opponents, though, the Buccaneers can take a breath of fresh air now that their captain is back at the helm.
