Now that Tom Brady has made it official that he’ll be retiring from the NFL, the big question on a lot of folks’ minds is where do the Tampa Bay Buccaneers go from here?
On Wednesday, Brady posted a video announcement to Twitter that he was retiring “for good.” And after that, ESPN’s Jeff Darlington reported that Brady let Bucs’ management know even before that video:
Tom Brady informed Bucs today at 6 am he’d be retiring. One aspect I’d been mentioning for a bit now: Brady for months implied to many close to him that it was going to be either a return to Tampa or retirement. Tough for many to believe, including those close, but he meant it.
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) February 1, 2023
Brady’s announcement is perfect timing for the Bucs because now they can find his replacement. So what quarterbacks could they be looking at? Well, the obvious choice here has to be Jimmy Garoppolo.
Garoppolo played behind Brady in New England and before he was injured, was leading the San Francisco 49ers into the playoffs.
The question here is whether or not the 49ers would be willing to part with him knowing that Brock Purdy, who will likely be the 49ers starting quarterback next season, may not be back for a while thanks to injury.
Another possibility is Lamar Jackson. Jackson has yet to re-sign with the Ravens and many feel as if he is on his way out of Baltimore. If the Bucs were to sign Jackson, they would automatically be Super Bowl contenders without question.
Two more names could also be in the mix: Aaron Rodgers and Derek Carr. The only question is how much would the Bucs be willing to give up in the draft to sign either one of these two?
Brady did his team a solid by doing this early enough that his team can move on and find his replacement. It will be interesting to see who that is.
[Photo of Brady with then-offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich on Dec. 25 from Mark J. Rebilas/USA Today Sports]
