More Kindling For The Tom-Brady-Will-Play-In-2023 Fire
November 19th, 2022
Intel on Tom Brady?
So the Custodian of Canton, the King of New Port Richey, the Baron of Big Storm Beer, the Count of Ten and internationally famed JoeBucsFan.com columnist Ira Kaufman had a sitdown recently with former Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians. Ira got all sorts of goodies.
One of which was, Arians seems to think the notion that Bucs quarterback Tom Brady will play football next year isn’t a nutty idea. And Arians thinks if Brady plays anywhere, it would be with the Bucs.
Others at One Buc Palace are throwing out hints that Brady isn’t done either.
Then, earlier this week, no less of an NFL figure than Joe Buck chimed in. The St. Petersburg-born Buck had been the voice of the NFL on FOX for nearly three decades. This past offseason he jumped to BSPN.
So it’s safe to say Buck knows a lot of big shots at FOX. Hell, who knows, perhaps he texts the Murdoch clan?
Buck hopped on the fantastic “SI Media Podcast” this week hosted by Jimmy Traina. There, Buck openly scoffed at the idea that Brady, who signed a $375 million contract with FOX to be its No. 1 NFL game analyst, will ever call a game for FOX.
When Traina reacted incredulously that Brady wouldn’t “walk away” from $375 million and Brady certainly will call games for FOX, Buck replied, “Oh he is?”
Then Buck claimed he’s heard from some folks in the know at FOX who are fairly skeptical as well that Brady will ever work a game for them.
“Is there a chance [Brady doesn’t work for FOX]? Yeah, I think there’s a chance,” Buck said. “Who knows where his family life takes him? Who knows if he plays one more year or he doesn’t?
“I know there are people at FOX who would say there’s a chance that he doesn’t call a game there.”
Well, Buck spent 27 years at FOX. It’s fair to say he is tight with a bunch of folks there and likely is close to shot-callers there as well. Could Buck be getting this intel from a Murdoch? From FOX Sports CEO Eric Shanks? Another higher-up? All possible.
Joe thought the timing of Buck’s claim is very interesting. Right when there are all sorts of Bucs types claiming Brady could still play next year and maybe for the Bucs, Buck claims some folks at FOX don’t expect Brady to work a game for them.
So if Brady isn’t working weekends for FOX next fall, he’s got weekends open and needs something to do, right?
Yes good readers, the NFL sure knows full well that drama sells.
Tom Brady: "No Retirement In My Future" pic.twitter.com/LEWWwM621z
— FlurrySports (@FlurrySports) October 20, 2022
November 19th, 2022 at 12:31 am
He said he would play till he’s not an option for starting QB
November 19th, 2022 at 1:10 am
Now that he’s dumped the Geezahorse, he’s free to do what he loves and what he excels at for as long as he can. Please baby jeezus, let Nick Leverett be good enough to slow down an a-gap blitz and open a hole for Boron’s run-left fetish once in a while. Please baby jeebus, let Whoolio’s and Gage’s ailments be cured by a good prescription of strong Panadol.
Please give Boron laryngitis and a case of the tremors so severe that Clyde gets the headset – he will auto-defer to Tom.
And please have Toad stop trying to devise the next genis blitz/zone package, and instead just let his guys go and play football fast. If we have all these superiors, then man defense should work best.
But it’s the Genis. He gotta prove he smarter than all time.
Bowelswich.
November 19th, 2022 at 2:05 am
If he plays with the Bucs, it’s just going to take some amazing capwork – but it is possible. Hopefully he’s here until he can’t play anymore, and while he could fall off a cliff at any time, he’s not really showing any issues right now, other than the complete lack of mobility, which is why Leftwich is such an idiot for running two trick plays where he’s a WR.
Anyone eager to see this era end is literally an idiot, most likely a bandwagon rider who has zero idea of what it’s been like to be a fan of the most losing team in all of professional sports history – then Brady came here, won a SB, and now the Bucs moved all the up to 2nd most losing team in all of sports history (lost the spot to the Minnesota Timberwolves).
BTW, around 2014 or so, the list of most loser teams had the Bucs, Lightning and Rays in the bottom 10. It was a really bad time, for a really long time. Right now we’re in the golden years with the Bucs and Lightning, and well no one cares about the Rays so I don’t even know what happened to them.
November 19th, 2022 at 3:29 am
I think I read the same article a couple of days ago, repost.
November 19th, 2022 at 5:54 am
Good
November 19th, 2022 at 6:05 am
‘A qb never had a completion laying on his back’.
This is an absolute favorite to those thinking blitzes don’t work.
Also. Football is an aggressive sport, that’s meant to be played that way.
If it wasn’t, they’d have dressed them all up in skirts.
Now that the ‘anchor’ has been tossed, who knows how long Brady plays for.
I suppose it’s now just up to him. As it should’ve been.
November 19th, 2022 at 7:19 am
Too bad those hacks don’t know what they are talking about 95% of the time
November 19th, 2022 at 7:19 am
Brady repeatedly flashed his still potent arm strength and accuracy repeatedly in Germany-TB12 will play AT LEAST one more after this season.
November 19th, 2022 at 7:44 am
If he plays, he stays……
November 19th, 2022 at 7:57 am
Lets worry about this year.
November 19th, 2022 at 8:06 am
Rod … ‘If he plays with the Bucs, it’s just going to take some amazing capwork – but it is possible.’
Anything is POSSIBLE when it comes to the salary CAP; the issue is always the same though: ‘AT WHAT COST?’ We’re already eating $35 MIL of Brady’s PAST salaries in 2023; that’s the cost a very good starting QB. And we’ll be paying that whether he retires or not. IF he chooses NOT to retire (totally HIS CHOICE remember, not ours), then we’d owe him ANOTHER $25-$35 mil on top of that.
So yes, while it’s POSSIBLE, it’d come at a very high cost. And that high cost would be NOT signing OTHER players to support him like he needs to be supported at his age. Our starting offense is mostly under contract for 2023, but those contracts are VERY expensive already (Donovan, Jensen, Mason, Fournette, Evans, Godwin & Gage … those 7 alone have salary CAP hits in 2023 totaling $110.7 mil, slightly over HALF of our projected 2023 salary CAP). Add in the $52.7 mil that we owe for voided contracts to players who’ll be free agents (Brady, LVD, Hicks, Julio, Gholston) and we’d have $57.5 mil REMAINING of our projected $220.9 mil 2023 salary CAP to pay for 48 other players. And just THREE of those (Shaq, Vea, Davis) have 2023 contracts totaling 55.7 mil in CAP hits.
But yes Rod, we can kick the can down the street once again to fit Brady in next year by restructuring some contracts, but that street has gotten very short. And the can has been kicked to death & is really beaten up by now. We’d end up losing out in the end by not being able to re-sign some very good players … mostly on defense … who we’ll need for the future (yes, players like Jamel Dean & many others).
Isn’t there an old saying ‘Be careful what you wish for’?
November 19th, 2022 at 8:22 am
I’ll take my chances w TB12. Kick the can down the road for another year.
November 19th, 2022 at 8:29 am
This all means that he won’t return to the Buc’s and he will retire. That also means that he won’t be in the booth. Brady reflects on everything and how that everything reflects on him, his family, and his process of making decisions. As much as Tampa and myself want him back in uniform and want him to set up a home in the Bay area I think he will concentrate on how to build a bridge across the water to his ex-wife’s home.
November 19th, 2022 at 8:38 am
Well Tom would always play for less because he also had his wifes money. That’s gone now. I don’t know how their loot was devided up, but if she kept hers, it would be way more then his. He can make 375 million with Fox, the Bucs can pay him about 20 probably. So at 46 with the bank account not looking the same, Crypto, do you beat your body up for 20 a year, or call games for 37 mill a year? If it comes down to money, which it always does, do the math.
November 19th, 2022 at 9:06 am
” We’re already eating $35 MIL of Brady’s PAST salaries in 2023; that’s the cost a very good starting QB. And we’ll be paying that whether he retires or not. IF he chooses NOT to retire (totally HIS CHOICE remember, not ours), then we’d owe him ANOTHER $25-$35 mil on top of that.”
That was my thinking as well. The only way we’d expend less money at QB is Gabbert or Trask. Think back on all the possible free agents/ replacements we were contemplating last winter–Ryan…Mayfield…Wilson… Every single one of them sucked, would have likely gotten the same production out of either our backups at a fraction of the price. Brady still the best option
November 19th, 2022 at 9:19 am
My guess is Brady would be bored in a bored-cast booth. Not enough competition for him. Let’s see how this year plays out before we worry about next year.
This year has enough worries of its own without us worrying about stuff beyond our control.
GO BUCS!!!
November 19th, 2022 at 9:47 am
If I’m Brady, I look hard at the Bucs and I see a contender that can get me 3 more rings and protect me as long as I want to play.
Think about it. 5-5 in spite of a new interior offensive line, no Jensen, injuries at wide receiver, new (and an old) tight ends, no Gronk, no crazy AB, a somewhat shaky head coach, two defensive coordinators, no Suh, no JPP.
So I think about what I will have next year. Jensen. Offensive linemen with a year of experience, during which they got steadily better. Same with the tight ends, and defensive linemen. Lots of great young players like Winfield (and good White). Add a few pieces in the draft or through free agency, make needed coaching changes…….
Yeah, if I’m Brady, I’m thinking 10 rings.
If I’m the Bucs, I build a family recreation area within walking distance, complete with daycare, school, pool, spa, movie theater, whatever.…..A place for players’ family members to hang out. Show the league what it really means to be “family friendly”. If a player has a break, his family is nearby. Maybe even build a small hotel for visiting family, free agents, players on a “prove it” deal, etc.
Not sure what the NFL allows, but I think it’s time teams pay more attention to families and I think the Bucs could lead the way. It’s like they say in the military “you enlist the soldier, but you reenlist the family.” The Bucs need to adopt that same mindset.
November 19th, 2022 at 10:38 am
After losing a crap load of money in that crypto company he was invested in and not having his wife’s coin, he needs to play to get his account back up.
November 19th, 2022 at 11:10 am
If Brady wants to play with the Bucs next year, you sign him and make it work. Period! We will need to be smart in how we handle free agency and hope we draft rookies who can make an impact early.
November 19th, 2022 at 11:29 am
50% chance of Brady playing in 2023.0% chance of him playing with the bucs
November 19th, 2022 at 1:53 pm
We are in cap hell next year
IF…he plays…it will be somewhere else.
November 19th, 2022 at 1:55 pm
If he plays it’s the Bucs and only the Bucs. The Geezelhag has moved on and given him his unconditional release. If the OL can block (a big if) and if the run game can be adequate (another big if), and Boron gets locked in a closet so Tom calls his own game, he will have fun. If he has fun and feels good, why wouldn’t he keep playing? And it would be with these players and this system. No way he goes to a whole slew of unknowns to start over at 46. Maybe the Geezanag wanted LA or Miami but now that horse has left the barn.
It’s Tompa Bay. Period.
November 19th, 2022 at 1:57 pm
Many of you guys are talking with nothing to back it up. Brady did not lose money in that crypto company, since he didn’t invest any. I don’t know where that comes from. IF Brady decides to play more years he has ZERO reasons to go elsewhere. Give me a reason if you think that. He has the coaches, players, and
organization he wants. He has all the respect he ever dreamed of. Sheesh.
November 19th, 2022 at 2:45 pm
Theres a big reason for not playing on the bucs: he likes to win and would like to win another sb.
November 19th, 2022 at 5:52 pm
There’s something to be said for playing with your friends in a positive environment. Shaq could have made more money elsewhere, but he (and his family) like it in Tampa. I expect Brady feels similar
November 19th, 2022 at 6:05 pm
Too soon to even think about it.
November 19th, 2022 at 6:24 pm
He has coaches? LOLOLOL
We are in mega cap hell next year
It will be tough to field a decent team around brady
Look it up
November 19th, 2022 at 6:40 pm
Peyton, in an interview during his epic first season in Denver, when asked how long will he play, responded that he liked the way Brady put it “When I suck, I’ll retire. But I don’t plan on sucking for a long time.” (Turned out that was the very next year)
November 20th, 2022 at 10:47 am
For those worried about kicking the can down the road to fit everyone under the salary cap, just remember the immortal words of Robert Earl Keene, ” the road goes on forever, and the party never ends”
November 22nd, 2022 at 9:31 am
The Bucs should have offered him that contract to stay in the building.
We need Tom Brady in Tampa Bay until he dies.
He is a culture changer.