Brady, Gurley: From 2019 Super Bowl foes to same division
For now, there are four Super Bowl quarterbacks in the NFC South, including a newcomer. Some guy named Brady. Tom Brady’s monumental 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 the Panthers, who have told Newton he can look for a job elsewhere.
At this time, no other division has that kind of Super Bowl resume, though.
And the NFC South added another major star in Todd Gurley. One day after the Rams cut their high-priced running back, he landed in Atlanta.
Brady, of course, is the headliner wherever he is. On Friday 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 teammates and coaches and proving to them that they can believe and trust in me,” the four-time Super Bowl MVP added. “I have always believed that well done is better than well said, so I’m ... not gonna say much more. I’m just gonna get to work!”
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 has faltered the past two years.
He got a $6 million oneyear deal, which might pale in comparison to Brady’s guaranteed $50 million for two seasons. But after being summarily 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 $10.5 million in his contract with the Rams became fully guaranteed. Gurley was the 2015 Offensive Rookie of the Year and 2017 NFL Offensive Player of the Year.
Atlanta needed to replace Devonta Freeman, who was released.
Also Friday:
“There was some interest from other teams,” Peat said on a conference call. “Ever since I was drafted here, I wanted to play my whole career with the Saints. So, I’m just really excited to be able to continue my career here with the Saints.” the Vikings “because they have to spend their money elsewhere and we decided to now focus our attention on free agency.” The longest-tenured player on the team, Griffen had 74 ½ sacks in 10 seasons.
Cooper was an All-Pro kick returner for the Los Angeles Rams in 2017 and had a career-high 25 receptions for 243 yards and a touchdown in 12 games with Arizona last season. Burris has played in 52 career games with 11 starts, totaling 58 tackles, four interceptions, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one sack in four NFL seasons with the Jets and Browns.