Passing Buc on Brady
Tampa Bay odds-on favorite to land GOAT
According to oddsmakers, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have vaulted to the top of the list in the Tom Brady Sweepstakes.
Forget the old creamsicle team colors, and how weird the GOAT would look in that vintage Bucs uniform. The odds are telling us Brady is going to choose Loserville over the NFL’s winningest franchise the past two decades. It’s happening.
If true he’d be dumping the NFL penthouse for its outhouse. Does that even compute?
Does Brady really want to go to the team that has the worst all-time winning percentage of all 32 teams? The Bucs are entrenched at the bottom at 38.5%. They’ve gone 267-424 since coming into existence in 1976. Not far behind are the Chargers (49.9%), one of the other teams still in the running. The Patriots? Historically, they sit in third place behind the Cowboys and Packers. They have a 56.4% winning percentage (512-395).
Well, if Brady — who’s set to hit the open market on Wednesday — truly wants a new challenge, the Bucs are it.
Actually, it would come full circle for the six-time Super Bowl winner, to a degree. The Patriots weren’t exactly a juggernaut when Brady was drafted by them in 2000. The resurrection began with Bill Parcells and a Super Bowl appearance in 1997, but the Patriots weren’t the NFL’s poster boy for winning back when Brady was taken in the sixth round of the 2000 draft at No. 199 overall.
The franchise evolved into a perennial champ with Brady and Bill Belichick. Entering his age-43 season, Brady doesn’t have a lot of time left to wield his magic.
Could he get the Bucs, who made an aggressive pitch to him Monday, to the Super Bowl in the next few years? They aren’t a step away from a championship. They aren’t close.
But let’s just say with Bucs head coach Bruce Arians, and the offensive weapons Brady would now enjoy, it’s not completely out of the realm of possibility.
Throwing to receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, along with tight ends O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate, should certainly appeal to Brady.
Both Evans and Godwin were 1,000-yard receivers last season. Goodwin finished as the third-leading receiver in the league with 86 catches for 1,333 yards with 9 touchdowns. Evans was 13th. Both were ahead of the Patriots’ top gun, Julian Edelman, who finished with 100 catches for 1,117 yards, with six TDs.
With the player-friendly Arians willing to accommodate Brady’s wishes for the offense, the Buccaneers could be a good option in terms of football fit. Dealing with Arians would certainly be a change from the allbusiness Belichick. It might be a preferred change.
Whether Brady would actually want to play in Tampa is another story. The location isn’t the best, although the warmer weather might be a draw. With the Titans, 49ers, Colts and Cowboys and others off the board, the choices are narrowing if Brady truly wants out.
The L.A. Chargers would be a better fit in terms of location. There are also plenty of offensive weapons (Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Hunter Henry, Austin Ekeler) there, and talk about the Chargers beefing up their woeful offensive line. Whatever teams are left, Brady seems ready for a new challenge.
Patriots quarterback Drew
Bledsoe told the Herald back in January that, from his experience, going to a different team after being in one spot for so long isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Bledsoe was reinvigorated after leaving the Patriots for the Bills. The same could happen for Brady, especially since there have been no substantive talks as yet with Bill Belichick and the Patriots. Belichick had a window of exclusive negotiating, and essentially did nothing with it.
“I think when you’re in one place for a long time, and this applies to everything, not just sports, it can be kind of routine. It can become comfortable, and that’s great. It feels good,” said Bledsoe. “But when you start over, you kind of throw yourself into the deep end of the pool again. It was sort of like when I left football and got into business. I was a rookie again. Taking on those new challenges can be energizing and inspiring in some ways.”
The Bucs, the team with the most cap space of the favored final three, appear to be in the driver’s seat with $66 million to spend, according to Spotrac.com. The Chargers aren’t in bad shape, either. They have $51.9 million.
The Bucs have made no secret their desire for Brady. They are likely to spend a ton, as they try to lure him south. The Patriots can’t compete with the money, unless they get real creative with the cap. They can only compete on history and legend.
They’re the Cadillac of NFL teams. Not the Pinto.
But don’t dismiss the Pinto winning out.