3 teams that could lure Tom Brady away from the Buccaneers in 2023
By Morgan Jayne
What will Tom Brady do in 2023? Will he retire, re-sign with the Buccaneers, or will another team lure him away?
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2023.
Tom Brady has options: to retire, re-sign with Tampa Bay or join another team. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero, “all options are on the table” for Brady at the end of the 2022 season.
Brady announced his retirement in February 2022 after 22 NFL seasons. The retirement was brief as, in March, Brady announced he would return to the Buccaneers for the 2022 season. Brady initially signed a 2-year contract with Tampa Bay in 2020 after becoming a free agent and ending his 20-year tenure with the New England Patriots in 2020.
Which teams could sign Tom Brady in 2023?
While Tom Brady has shown that he can still play at the highest level, are any teams willing to sign a 46-year-old, which is the age he will be at the start of the 2023 season? The contract will not be long-term if they do, given Brady’s age.
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan’s recent comments on Brady, combined with Brady’s childhood love for the team, is causing many people in NFL media to predict San Francisco as a potential landing spot for Brady in 2023.
When Brady became a free agent in 2020, the 49ers held off on pursuing him and instead stuck with his former Patriots teammate and backup, Jimmy Garoppolo. Garoppolo had led the 49ers to the Super Bowl in the previous season, which they failed to win. Meanwhile, in 2020, in his first season with Tampa Bay, Brady successfully led them to their second-ever Super Bowl Championship and his seventh. Perhaps the 49ers do regret not signing Brady in 2020.
With Garopplo being a free agent in 2023, the 49ers could recruit Brady and have the returning Trey Lance learn from under him. Brady could play with a stacked offense with George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey, and Deebo Samuel next season.