With Tom Brady in the fold for the 2022 season, many speculate whether Brady will return to the buccaneers in 2023 should he continue playing at 46.
Brady is signed for just one more year with the Buccaneers, and in his contract, there is a provision that states that he cannot have the franchise tag put on him.
There is a lot of speculation that Brady could sign with San Francisco or Miami after his playing days with the Bucs are over.
Let’s look at San Francisco.
Rumor is the 49ers are ready to move on from Jimmy Garroppolo and turn things over to Trey Vance.
It would be hard for me to imagine a scenario where the 49ers would give up so much draft capital to draft someone like Trey Lance and then give up on him after two years.
Not only that but replacing the youngster Lance with a 46-year-old veteran who is playing on one-year contracts at this point in his career seems a bit reckless to me.
Brady grew up in northern California and rooted for the 49ers as a youngster.
When he did not re-sign with New England in 2020, there was some interest between Brady and the 49ers, but they could not reach a deal.
Brady then turned his attention to Tampa and signed with the Buccaneers.
I cannot see a scenario where Brady signs with the 49ers.
Let’s move on to Miami.
The story goes that Brady would retire, then unretire, join the Dolphins as their starting quarterback and take on a job as a high-ranking executive.
When the Bucs moved on from Brady, Brady would announce he wanted to continue his playing career and work behind the scenes to force a trade from the Bucs to the Dolphins.
What a crazy turn of events that would have been if Brady were to take his talents to South beach.
It never happened, and outside of NFL gossip, nothing can be confirmed.
This brings up the age-old question of whether or not Brady will return for a fourth season with the Bucs in 2023.
Brady will be a free agent. Unless Brady and the Buccaneers agree on a contract for 2023, Brady will be free to sign with whomever he chooses or retires again.
One would think that if Brady wanted to be with the Bucs in 2023, he would have an extension added on to the contract guaranteeing his playing with Tampa in 2023.
Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback of all time. He has earned the right to choose where he will play in 2023.
If Brady leads the Bucs to a Super Bowl in 2022, his chances of coming back are slim.
Here is a quote from Tom Brady talking with Sports Illustrated about coming back for one more run with the Buccaneers.
“At that point, I decided to talk with my family, and I said, I think I wanna do this one more time if you guys will support that.” And my wife was so supportive of it, and she said, “Look, I want you to be happy. I want you to enjoy it and go out there and win.” Ultimately, that’s why I came back, to win. There’s only one reason to play for me at this point in my career. And that’s to win.
The key is Brady saying, “One more time.” That would indicate to me that this will be Brady’s final season.
However, if the Bucs come up short in their quest for another Super Bowl Championship, It wouldn’t surprise me if Brady continues to play to win another Super Bowl.
One thing we know about Brady, he can and will change his mind anytime the wind blows in a different direction.
It’s Super Bowl or bust for Brady and the Bucs in 2022.
