CNN
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It will be one of the highlights that will dominate the NFL offseason as will Tom Brady To practice his profession next season – if at all?
The 45-year-old finished off one of his most turbulent seasons, both on and off the field, that ended with him. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were blown out by the Dallas Cowboys in the playoffs.
Brady, a free agent and thus able to sign anywhere, remained coy about what was after the loss.
“I’m going to go home and get as good a night’s sleep as I can tonight,” Brady Tell correspondents. “There’s been a lot of focus on this game, so, it’s just going to be one day at a time, really.”
He was philosophical when it came to processing his feelings after defeating the supplement.
“I feel like we’re at the end of the season,” he said. “I love this organization. It’s an amazing place. Thank you all for making me welcome. I am so grateful for the respect and I hope to return the same.”
So let’s take a look at Brady’s difficult season and where he might play next season, if he will play at all.
Brady is synonymous with winning. The legendary quarterback has won seven Super Bowl rings and is the player with the most wins in his career.
This season, however, Brady and Bucks have found winning a little more difficult. The team finished with an 8-9 record, with many of their stars not performing at the level that helped them win the title two seasons earlier.
Brady himself never looked like his irresistible self, with extraordinary errors and uninformed errors creeping up on the Tampa Bay offense.
Whether it’s Daddy’s time catching up to him or his life off the field affecting his game – Brady is gone By divorce From his wife of 13 years, Gisele Bundchen, in the middle of the year — he didn’t seem so insatiable.
In November, when asked about his weekly appearance on “Let’s Go!” If he had issues fragmenting his NFL play with his personal life, Brady said “This is being a professional.”
“I’ve dealt with a lot of tough situations on and off the field over my 23 years, a lot of it playing in front of a lot of people,” he explained. “So I think the interesting thing for a footballer and an athlete in general is that you are out there, I always say we are not actors even though we are on TV. That is our true self there.
“We’re trying to do our best. That’s how you’ve really gotten to know people over the years by being on TV, and that’s my authentic self that I compete with my teammates every day and you give your all for the team.
“Everyone goes through different things. We all have our own unique challenges in life. We are all human. We do the best we can.”
And after an up-and-down 18 weeks, Brady delivered one of the worst playoff performances of his career against the Cowboys, sounding uncertain and detached: not adjectives usually used to describe him.
You’d be right in thinking that you remember Brady retiring from the NFL.
In February 2022, the former New England Patriots announced his retirement before changing his mind several weeks later and announcing that he would be returning for a 23rd season.
As he got older, Brady became more philosophical about life and his relationship to sports.
“I do not believe that life is the ultimate joy. I do not believe that life is always the ultimate pain. I do not believe that life is the ultimate struggle.” He said in September.
“Your life ebbs and flows; through the clouds, through the sun, through the rain, and through the fine days. And you appreciate moments and find joy in the little things.”
And with his 24th season approaching and as a free agent, retirement from the NFL can be a very real possibility.
If he were to retire, his next steps in the sport already seem planned after he signed a 10-year contract It has a value of $375 million To become the NFL’s leading analyst for Fox Sports last year.
It’s a path that has been well traversed by many former players – including the Manning brothers and Tony Romo – and could help Brady find the next chapter of his life in the sport in which he has spent more than half his life.
Although it wasn’t Brady’s slate season, he showed he could perform at the highest level.
And write off Tom Brady at your peril.
The legendary quarterback is now free to sign with whatever team he likes after the end of the 2022 season after his contract with the Bucs expires.
If Brady were to get back on the field, he’d probably pick a team with a perimeter that’s built to win right away — probably — he doesn’t have many years left in his career. How many times have we said that though?
There have been a few teams associated with signing Brady, including running back Bill Belichick and the Patriots or Miami Dolphins, but two teams in particular stand out because of the connections already in place.
First, the Tennessee Titans — who have quarterback Ryan Tannehill as a free agent this offseason — are coming off their disappointing year but have a veteran team and head coach, Mike Vrabel, who played with Brady in New England for seven years.
The main candidate though is the Las Vegas Raiders. They signaled they were moving on from starting quarterback Derek Carr this offseason when they benched him for the final two weeks of the year, with Carr says a heartfelt goodbye after the eighteenth week.
With former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels as head coach — the pair had an almost symbiotic relationship during their trophy-filled career in New England — aligning with the team’s offense will be seamless.
The Raiders have plenty of offensive firepower – Davante Adams, Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow are all waiting to catch passes – and the defense has playmakers, too. Not to mention the allure of playing in Las Vegas.
And how cool would it be to see Brady in his famous silver and black in The Raiders? It’s just one scene that could happen in the goat’s future.
“Student. Incurable problem solver. Amateur baconaholic. Introvert. Infuriatingly humble music fanatic.”