Quarterback Tom Brady is expected to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Jeff Darlington. Brady can sign with the team when free agency officially opens at 4 p.m. on Wednesday. However, it’s unclear when he’ll officially join Tampa.
He announced on Tuesday he would be leaving the New England Patriots in a statement on Twitter when he thanked the organization, Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft. Negotiations between Brady and Belichick did not go well, per multiple reports. Ultimately, Brady met with Kraft on Monday night, and shared he would not be returning to New England in free agency.
In Tampa Bay, Brady will play with an impressive group of pass-catchers. Brady will have receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin and tight ends O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate. Brady will also work with coach Bruce Arians, who is well-known for his work with quarterbacks like Ben Roethlisberger, Peyton Manning and Carson Palmer. With Jameis Winston firing off 30 interceptions in 2019, Arians is likely happy to work with a quarterback like Brady, who has a reputation for his risk-averse style of play. In many ways, however, Arians and Brady are quite opposite. It will be interesting to see how Brady’s style of play and system with the Patriots meshes with Arians’ methodology.
Arians and the Buccaneers will be in charge of helping Brady return to form after his worst statistical season of his career. Brady’s supporting cast in his final year in New England was less-than-stellar. With the Bucs impressive group of skill players, Brady should be able to elevate his game, even at 43 years old.
