Whats Next For Tom Brady?

I think it’s safe to say Tom Brady played his last game as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer Monday night in a 31–14 pummeling at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys. Brady, 45, will be heading into the second free agency of his 22 season career and with the Bucs finishing under .500 and Brady essentially saying a final goodbye to the Tampa media, Brady will either be heading for retirement or a new home. Last season, Brady abandoned his NFL career for a month until he finally declared he would be back with the Buccaneers. This choice eventually led to Brady going through a divorce with his wife, Giselle Bundchen, and Brady having the worst season of his career. With Brady sacrificing his family for football, it’s hard to see him walking away from the game entirely, especially since he would be retiring at the very worst part of his illustrious career. With it being most likely that Brady is still pursuing a Super Bowl in 2023, let’s look at his best options and why some rumored destinations have no chance of happening.

Miami Isn’t an Option

Brady has been in the heads of Miami fans and media for the past three years as a potential quarterback, and they haven’t been wrong for that. Miami was caught tampering with Brady while he was under contract with the New England Patriots in 2020, prior to Brady joining the Bucs. Miami’s plot to pair Brady with former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton ultimately ended with a suspension for owner Stephen Ross and Miami being stripped of their 2023 first round pick. Since this failure happened, the Dolphins have invested in quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who has performed admirably this past season and the team has had enough confidence in to mortgage their future in trades for superstars Tyreek Hill and Bradley Chubb. Tagovailoa put up an impressive 25 TD-8 INT this past season with a 65% completion percentage while only playing 13 games. His 3 concussions are extremely concerning, but Tagovailoa will be back and Miami isn’t going to abandon a promising young quarterback for a quarterback going on 46. Miami is tight on money anyway and they don’t want to have to put money where they don’t need too. As much as Miami fans and media pry at the idea of Brady being a Dolphin, it will never happen. It’s all noise, no substance.

A Hometown Reunion Would be Unwise…For the Team

The San Francisco 49ers have been a rumored destination for Brady ever since his first run in free agency. It makes sense, Brady grew up a Bay Area native and was a childhood 49ers fan. The 49ers have been up and down with the quarterback position, but with great offensive weapons and a calculated defense, they have managed to be an NFC powerhouse these past few years. So why would they not be interested in Brady and why would it be a bad idea? The 49ers flat out don’t need him.

San Francisco has played three quarterbacks this year and all of them have found some form of success. Trey Lance, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Brock Purdy have all brought the Niners success and the third, rookie 7th round pick Brock Purdy, might be on track to leading the 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance. The 49ers don’t have a quarterback problem. They aren’t struggling at the position. They just have three quarterbacks that all can get them to where they want and need to be.

Brock Purdy has gone undefeated in his starts and has even blown out Brady in a 35–7 win on December 11th. Purdy has passed for a 67% completion percentage and 13 TD to 4 INT in his first NFL season. Add a lowly 950k salary for the next 3 years and I just can’t see how Brady fits into the 49ers plans. Purdy has proven he can at least piggy back the team to a potential Super Bowl, so why pay someone 30 million when you can pay someone 950k for the same, or better result. It’s not that Brady is not good enough to be the 49ers quarterback, it’s just way more economically sound to keep lower salaries in the QB room. Few teams can stumble into as much cheap QB talent as the 49ers have and they aren’t going to get greedy for Brady.

New England Doesn’t Want Him

Would Bill Belichick really consider bringing Brady back for one final run? Sorry Patriots fans, the answer is a big no.

Just like the 49ers, the Patriots have invested big time into cheap young QBs, so they can have the ability to spend elsewhere. Mac Jones was brought in and had a terrific rookie season completing 68% of his passes with 22 TD and 13 INT. Jones had a big step back in year 2 due to the horrible play calling of offensive coordinator Matt Patricia. This, along with the emergence of another cheap contract in Bailey Zappe has thrown doubt into the future of Jones in New England and has opened the door to Brady rumors. Unfortunately the interest isn’t there.

There is a 0% chance the Patriots would give up the cheap contracts of Jones and Zappe to take possibly only a year of Brady. The Patriots offense will be undergoing a complete overhaul with the departure of Patricia and you have to think Brady wouldn’t want to deal with the dysfunction he ran away from 3 years ago. A Brady signing would mean a trade demand from Jones and most likely one from Zappe. Brady’s signing would set the Patriots back to their unprepared 2020 rebuild after 1 year of the Brady experience and wouldn’t be beneficial for the Patriots or Brady.

Former teammates have come out publicly and anonymously to say Brady doesn’t have interest in a reunion and it seems to be the same sentiment from the Belichick camp. Brady lovers around New England might want it to happen, but it won’t, and thats for the best.

The Perfect Fit…That Won’t Happen

Does Brady want to turn heel for all of New England this time? Well, signing with the New York Jets could certainly do that. What’s even more intriguing, is that Brady signing with the Jets is probably is best option.

The New York Jets are currently a quarterback away from being a Super Bowl contender, maybe even a favorite. The Jets defense is stacked top down, featuring a secondary including Sauce Gardner, Michael Carter ll, D.J Reed, Jordan Whitehead, LaMarcus Joyner, and Ashtyn Davis. The defensive front might be even more impressive, featuring the hulking Quinnen Williams, Carl Lawson, and Jermaine Johnson. The defense averaged the least amount of TD allowed in 2022 and allowed the 2nd least yardage. This defense could carry Brady to a Super Bowl and it’s very young.

The offense also boasts some very attractive weapons for Brady. Rookie wide receiver Garrett Wilson is only going to get better, putting up 83 receptions for 1,103 yards and 4 TD. Like it or not, the Jets have found a number one wide receiver and with an elite quarterback, Wilson could enter elite status at his position. Along with Wilson manning the #1 at receiver, young slot receivers Elijah Moore and Braxton Berrios could be reliable targets for Brady. It should be noted, Brady already has experience with Berrios from his rookie year on the Patriots practice squad. Need a deep threat? Well Corey Davis has that covered. Davis averaged 16.8 yards per reception last season and will be matched up against the #2 corner in games this upcoming year. The Jets receiver core (when used correctly) is sneakily one of the best in the NFL and one that Brady could thrive with.

The weapons don’t stop with the receivers. The Jets boast a plethora of young weapons coming out of the backfield. Rookie running back Breece Hall looked like the sure fire Offensive Rookie of the Year until he went down with an ACL tear in week 7. Hall was averaging 6.8 YPC and already ran for 463 yards while splitting carries with the very talented Michael Carter. Hall also showed off his ability to be a safety blanket for the quarterback, hauling in 19 passes for 218 yards. If that doesn’t intrigue you, former 1,000 yard rusher and 24 year old back James Robinson is backing up Hall and Carter.

Brady would be an immediate spark plug into an offense that already has the weapons for him to succeed. Coach Robert Saleh has built up the program well and the Jets have had a good few years of drafts and free agencies. The Jets know what they are doing.

It is my firm belief that Brady would make the Jets an instant Super Bowl contender. A quarterback is the only thing they are missing and they have already proven to have an elite unit on the other side of the ball. The only hold up is Brady’s unwillingness to join the program. I don’t think Brady cares very much about how fans in New England view him, but I do think he wants comfortability at the end of his career. There aren’t many familiar faces in New York and Tom isn’t the type to jump into a situation where he doesn’t have anyone to welcome him. I also don’t see the Jets as a franchise that would let Brady take the wheel in terms of roster construction (they’ve been doing pretty good on their own). In my eyes, the Jets are the best destination for any quarterback looking to find a new team, but I just can’t see Brady taking the dive into the Meadowlands to join Gang Green. If Brady wants to win his 8th Super Bowl, I urge him to sign the dotted line with the team that owns Broadway. Why not go out a villain?

Hey Vrabes, Need a Quarterback?

The current construction of the Tennessee Titans has hit their ceiling. Ryan Tannehill has run his course as the starting quarterback, with the QB being on a big decline since the first year of his 4 year $118 million contract. Tannehill put up 33 TD to 7 INT in the first year of that contract, but soon recorded 21 TD to 14 INT in 2021 and 13 TD to 6 INT this past season. Tannehill also dealt with injury problems this season that led him to miss the back half of the season.

While Tannehill was out, the Titans soon found out that rookie quarterback Malik Willis was not suitable to be an NFL quarterback, quickly replacing him with mediocre backup Joshua Dobbs. Through all of this turmoil, Tennessee finished with their worst record in the Mike Vrabel era at 7–10.

This decline of Tannehill and lack of in house option at the position opens up the possibility for Brady to “Titan Up” and join the team in Nashville.

Brady originally showed interest in the team with visits in his initial free agency period in 2020. Brady and his former wife were rumored to even go as far as scout out schools for their kids in the Nashville area at the time. The interest was seriously there for Brady at the time, so why should we assume it isn’t still lingering inside his mind? Former teammate and friend Mike Vrabel is heading the team and should be able to give Brady some leeway with how things are run with the team if he was to come on board. The Titans also would give Brady arguably the best running back in the league in Derek Henry and the addition of Brady would allow the Titans to not have to rely on play action for the majority of their pass threat.

The Titans receiving core might be something Brady would need to get over. Rookie receiver Treylon Burks is a big body who showed promise but hasn’t come into his own yet, only recording 33 receptions for 444 yards. Robert Woods can still be good, but is aging out of his most efficient years with the Rams. Brady will most likely have a lot of leverage in the Titans front office to put together his own collection of weapons, which saves the Titans from being totally out of consideration.

Tennessee’s lack of depth at key positions hinders the Titans from being Brady’s most likely destination but his connections with Vrabel and the deadly tandem him and Henry can form makes it his 2nd most likely. Brady loves to bring his friends wherever he goes, so why not join one who happens to have the most dominant running back in the league on his roster.

A Gamble That Could Pay Off

Las Vegas hasn’t had the best first year with Josh McDaniels at the helm. The Raiders spent big in the 2022 offseason acquiring Chandler Jones and Davante Adams to help a playoff team under Derek Carr take the next step. Unfortunately, it went very wrong. The Raiders finished the season 6–11 and benched Carr for presumably his last time as a Raider. This leaves a team built to win now with an open quarterback spot and Brady entering free agency.

Josh McDaniels worked magic with Brady under the helm in New England and it isn’t a secret that Brady and McDaniels are still very close. If Brady were to sign with the silver and black, he would be signing up to play in a system where he won multiple Super Bowls and would be throwing to his best receiver since Randy Moss in Davante Adams. Brady would also most likely have an emerging Josh Jacobs (Free Agent) in the backfield and reliable targets Darren Waller and Mack Hollins out wide. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Rob Gronkowski came out of retirement yet again to team up with Brady if he were to join his old coach.

The only hold up for Brady joining the Raiders would be their atrocious defense. The Raiders have an electric pass rush featuring Maxx Crosby and Chandler Jones, but it’s hard to find anyone notable or emerging in their secondary. Amik Robertson was often forced into being the #1 corner this year, which he is nowhere near qualified for, and corners Nate Hobbs and Sidney Jones haven’t been able to get the job done either. The Raiders defense ranked 26th in points allowed and ranked 30th in opponents red zone percentage. Coverage was more than just a problem. The Raiders will need to seriously revamp their secondary if they want to get Brady over there.

Even with the Raiders defense being one of the worst in the NFL, I still believe Las Vegas is the most likely destination for Brady this offseason. Brady has an affection for McDaniels and the offensive weapons Brady would have to work with in Vegas is the best he can get anywhere. Defense will surely be addressed this offseason and I can’t see the Raiders going into next year as unprepared in the secondary as they were this season. The Raiders wouldn’t have moved on from Carr so fast if they didn’t have a QB lined up to take his spot. That quarterback seems to be Tom Brady.