Last week, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New England Patriots future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady announced that he would be open to returning to the NFL under certain conditions. The story was viewed as mostly a funny but unlikely situation, but as the week went on and the discussions continued to grow, it became apparent that there was perhaps a chance or at least a condition in which Tom Brady would return.
Obviously, all of this still needs to be taken with a grain of salt, as Tom Brady is already in contract to be an NFL commentator this upcoming season and a partial shareholder of the Las Vegas Raiders. It would be impossible for him to be an announcer as a current player, and there are also questions as to whether or not he could be a partial owner of one team while still playing for another.
So does the story have any truth to it or at least any potential to it? Let’s dive in.
Tom Brady is 46 Years Old
The first thing I have to look at is Tom Brady’s age. It may not be entirely fair to look at someone’s age and automatically disqualify them, but the reality is that Tom Brady would be by far the oldest player in the league and the oldest player to have ever played the quarterback position by more than five years.
However, at the same time, the NFL has never been safer for quarterbacks. Tom Brady isn’t the kind of quarterback who scrambles or puts himself in situations where he’s likely to get hit. It’s also very likely that the referees would protect Tom Brady, causing defenders to be extremely cautious when trying to attack him. In a sense, it levels the playing field at least a little bit.
If we’re being honest about it, Tom Brady hasn’t played a life snap for a few years, which raises doubts about whether he would realistically be in the kind of shape you need to be to play on an NFL team, at least as a primary starter, which Brady would probably only play if that were the case.
Money Runs The NFL
It’s no secret that money runs the NFL. Later this month is the NFL draft, and if any teams don’t end up with a high-level quarterback or a trendy quarterback, it would not be surprising if they were to be interested in Tom Brady. Think of it when Michael Jordan joins the Washington Wizards. Even though Jordan was not the same level of player he was when he played for the Bulls, the interest and revenue that he brought to the team made it well worth it.
Of course, the biggest issue with this is that Tom Brady also wants to agree to play for the team. Brady has plenty of options available to him, and playing for a team where either he isn’t happy or doesn’t feel like he can be successful is unlikely to be able to pull him in. Instead, what’s more likely is that a team he wants to play for, such as when he joined the Buccaneers, would offer him, and he would accept. Finding a combination of the two, a team that needs a quarterback and a team Brady wants to play for, could be a hurdle that gets unresolved.
Conclusion
When Tom Brady announced that he’d be open to returning, he mentioned it mostly as an emergency quarterback. This is the only scenario where I believe Tom Brady would fully return. However, like many other things, including Hall of Fame athletes, sometimes it’s time to hang up the cleats and find joy in other activities and hobbies. Whether we like it or not, Tom Brady would probably struggle as an emergency quarterback because he wouldn’t have the relationship with the players to be the successful player he has been throughout his career.
That said, never doubt the GOAT and what he may decide to do next.