I wish to return back to Tampa Bay Buccaneers once again..
Tom Brady ends the Buccaneers’ comeback permanently: “Happy to never wear a helmet again” Tom Brady’s Arrival Back With The Tampa Bay Buccaneers Has Completely Shifted The NFL’s Environment
The full effect of Tom Brady’s return to football is evident less than two weeks after his announcement.
Brady’s announcement of his return from a one-month retirement spurred the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back into the race.
According to Matt Baker of The Tampa Bay Times, betting sites ranked Tampa Bay as a middle-of-the-pack team when it looked like the Bucs might start Kyle Trask or Blaine Gabbert as their quarterback in 2022. In fact, after Brady’s announcement, one website (Bovada) immediately pegged the Buccaneers as the favorites to win the Super Bowl at +700 odds.
Prior to Brady’s announcement, Baker claims that the Buccaneers’ odds of winning the championship this season were between +3300 and +2200.
Ten days later, Brady’s choice appears even more wise than it did at the time. The NFC has suffered overall as a result of the league’s widespread movement brought about by the madness of free agency.
Some of the league’s top players have switched teams from the NFC to the AFC in the last two weeks. Prominent athletes including Khalil Mack, Russell Wilson, Davante Adams, Matt Ryan, and Amari Cooper have all defected across conference lines.
The NFC’s surviving true game-breaking stars at quarterback are Aaron Rodgers, Kyler Murray, and Matthew Stafford, aside from Brady.
After Adams was traded, the Packers are still in shock and are searching for a new top choice to take Adams’ place. Adams was a five-time Pro Bowler. Kyler Murray is not happy with the Cardinals right now, and they are working to find a way to meet his demands for a contract.
The Rams are now the only legitimate NFC rival preventing the Bucs from winning. Remember, the Bucs nearly defeated the Rams in the playoffs after rallying from a 24-point deficit. That was without their best offensive lineman, tackle Tristan Wirfs, and two of their best receivers, Chris Godwin (injury) and Antonio Brown (released).
Apart from the overwhelming defeat of almost every contender in the NFC, the Brady effect has been felt internally. This is due to the fact that important Buccaneers players began resigning soon after Brady’s announcement.
Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen actually decided to re-sign with Tampa Bay a few hours after Brady posted about it on social media. The following few days saw the Bucs re-sign starting cornerback Carlton Davis, sign Chris Godwin to a new contract free of the franchise tag, and restructure the contracts of important players like Mike Evans, Shaq Barrett, and Cameron Brate.
Not to mention the Buccaneers’ recent re-signing of starting running back Leonard Fournette, nor their acquisitions of safety Logan Ryan and wide receiver Russell Gage in free agency.
In a recent interview earlier this week, Bucs general manager Jason Licht acknowledged Brady’s impact on the direction the Buccaneers will take as well as the NFL in general. Brady was dubbed the “ultimate cheat code” by Licht.
“Well, it really did help,” Licht remarked on Monday. “Players want to play with a guy like Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback of all time, if not the greatest player. Thus, I can’t deny that it was helpful. With Tom, we have the ultimate cheat code. We will thus make the most of it while it lasts. In any case, I believe that players enjoy it here. However, it is undoubtedly helpful to have a player like that toss the ball to them or to be on the other side of the ball knowing that he is your quarterback.
The Bucs seemed to be in decline before the free agency season began. Having spent $3 million over the salary cap to enter free agency, Tampa Bay had very little cap space going into the offseason and looked like they would lose most of their best free agents.
At the start of the 2022 NFL season, Brady altered the entire NFL landscape with a single keystroke on a random Sunday in the middle of March.
Entering the 2022 season, the Buccaneers are once again the NFC’s and maybe the league’s favorite team.
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