Tom Brady has kept the New England Patriots as Super Bowl contenders for the 20 years he spent with the team.
He’s now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — a team that hasn’t been to the Super Bowl since 2003. Regardless of their struggles in recent history, Buccaneers linebacker Shaq Barrett believes Brady automatically turns them into a contender. He joined ESPN’s “Get Up” and explained how Brady will put them in position.
“I think Jameis (Winston) would have made a big jump, but I think with Brady, it just makes us an automatic contender for a Super Bowl,” Barrett said. “With Jameis, I think we would have been a playoff contender. It would have been still a battle, for sure, and it’s still going to be a battle now, but having Tom, I think we’re going to be over the edge, and everything on paper looks perfect. We’ve just got to put the work in.”
The Buccaneers finished 2019 with a 7-9 record and Winston threw a career-high 30 interceptions. The team had two receivers with more than 1,000 receiving yards in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin — with Cameron Brate and O.J Howard at tight end. They’ve added Rob Gronkowski to that group, along with Brady.
Tampa Bay has a prolific offensive unit on paper and has the potential to compete for a Super Bowl — but, it’ll take extensive work for a 43-year-old quarterback to enter a new system and play at a championship level.
