Tom Brady to Tampa

Photo/Drawing by Alaina Burris

After spending 20 seasons with the New England Patriots, and winning six Super Bowls with the franchise, it is safe to say that Tom Brady’s departure to Tampa Bay is something that nobody saw coming. At the age of 42, Brady is currently the oldest starting quarterback in the national football league (NFL), but his dynasty is far from over.

Many people expected the veteran quarterback to stay in New England this season and make another Super Bowl run under the leadership of Bill Belichick, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had other ideas. Brady leaving the Patriots is considered by some sports analysts to be one of the biggest free agency moves the league has ever seen.

Despite Brady being regarded as one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game, this move raises a lot of questions. Can Brady help the struggling Buccaneers to a Super Bowl? Or is he too late in his career to make that big of an impact? The only way those questions will get answered is when the season is underway, and we see first hand how he fits into the Tampa Bay offense. But for right now, we can make predictions about how Brady’s season will go as a Buccaneer. 

The addition of Brady is not going to magically make the Buccaneers a Super Bowl contender. It does help the team to have a veteran presence in the huddle each play, but Brady will need playmakers all around him to make things happen. If the Buccaneers can manage to pick up even more offensive weapons this offseason, they are going to look very nice coming into next season.  

The only true threat the Tampa Bay offense has at the moment is Mike Evans, the 6’5 receiver coming into his seventh season. Evans is an absolute unit at the receiver spot, and sometimes seems impossible to guard, but one man can not do it all. For Brady to be successful this season in Tampa, he will need to have at least two more elite players to give the ball to. The most recent addition that the Buccaneers have –  which Brady is most certainly excited about – is tight end Rob Gronkowski, whose contract, along with a seventh round pick,  was traded by the Patriots to the Buccaneers for a fourth-round pick. After this trade, Gronkowski has agreed to come out of retirement and will once again play in the NFL alongside Brady, in Tampa Bay.

One thing is for certain, every NFL fan is eager to see how Brady does in possibly his last season in the league. Will he come out on top? Only time will tell.