‘Hungry’ Brady joins Buccaneers
For now, there are four Super Bowl quarterbacks in the NFC South, including a newcomer. Some guy named Brady.
Tom Brady’s move from New England, where he won six NFL titles, to Tampa Bay has him joining New Orleans’ Drew Brees, Atlanta’s Matt Ryan, and Carolina’s Cam Newton – who is on the way out. Teddy Bridgewater will be the man with Carolina, who have told Newton to look for a job elsewhere.
No other division has that kind of Super Bowl resume. And the NFC South added another major star in Todd Gurley. One day after the LA Rams cut their high-priced running back, he landed in Atlanta.
Brady, of course, is the headliner wherever he is. Yesterday, he made it official that the Buccaneers are his team.
‘‘Excited, humble and hungry – if there is one thing I have learned about football, it’s that nobody cares what you did last year or the year before that,’’ Brady wrote on social media.
‘‘I look forward to meeting all my new team-mates and coaches and proving to them that they can believe and trust in me,’’ the four-time Super Bowl MVP added.
He could have his work cut out for him: The Bucs haven’t made the playoffs in 12 straight seasons.
Gurley might be in a slightly better situation with the Falcons, who lost to Brady in the 2017
Super Bowl. Or maybe not, considering how Atlanta have faltered the past two years. He got a US$6 million one-year deal, which might pale in comparison to Brady’s guaranteed US$50m for two seasons. But after being dumped by the Rams, clearly there was a market for Gurley.
‘‘WE GOT HIM,’’ the Falcons exclaimed on their Twitter account.
The two-time All-Pro running back was released minutes before US$10.5m in his Rams contract became fully guaranteed. The 2015 Offensive Rookie of the Year and 2017 NFL Offensive Player of the Year replaced Devonta Freeman, who was released.
Meanwhile, Denver agreed to a two-year deal with former Chargers running back Melvin Gordon that is worth US$16m with all but US$2.5m guaranteed. Although his new deal is less than the US$10m a year Gordon turned down from the Chargers during an unsuccessful holdout last season, it allows him to face his old team twice a year and to hit free agency again in 2022. His US$8m a year salary also ranks fourth in the NFL among running backs.
Saints left guard Andrus Peat agreed to a five-year contract keeping him in New Orleans and virtually ensuring the entire
2019 starting offensive line will return – a deal worth US$57.5m.
The Steelers added tight end Eric Ebron on a two-year deal, as well as guard Stefen Wisniewski, who won a Super Bowl with the Chiefs. And Pittsburgh made a rare in-division trade, acquiring backup defensive tackle Chris Wormley and a seventh-round pick from Baltimore for a fifthround pick in this year’s draft.
Ebron, 27, is one season removed from a breakout 2018 in which he caught 13 touchdown passes to make the Pro Bowl for the first time. A lingering ankle injury that ended his season last year in November.
Long-time Vikings standout defensive lineman Everson Griffen, 32, is leaving Minnesota.
Griffen’s agent, Brian Murphy, said they ended talks with the Vikings ‘‘because they have to spend their money elsewhere and we decided to now focus our attention on free agency’’.
Carolina signed free agent wide receiver Pharoh Cooper to a one-year contract and safety Juston Burris to a two-year deal.
Cooper was an All-Pro kick returner for the Los Angeles Rams in 2017. Burris has played in 52 career games with 11 starts in four NFL seasons with the
Jets and Browns.
The Browns added another veteran safety Andrew Sendejo on a one-year, US$2.25m contract. The 32-year-old Sendejo played for Minnesota and Philadelphia last season. On Thursday, the team worked out a deal with former Raiders safety Karl Joseph.
– AP