The NFL landscape changed forever on Tuesday as Tom Brady announced his retirement after 22 seasons.
Brady’s retirement ends an era of greatness that we will never likely see again.
He ends his career as the NFL all-time leader in passing yards (84,520), completions (7,263), passing touchdowns, passing touchdowns (624), and most wins by a quarterback (243).
Of course his most prestigious accomplishment is that his seven Super Bowl victories are more than any NFL franchise, and he also has the most Super Bowl MVP awards with five.
This is why when it comes to quarterbacks, he is unquestionably the G.O.A.T.
He may not have had the storybook ending to his career in winning a Super Bowl in his final game. But the 44-year-old Brady is retiring at the perfect time and here’s why.
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Tom Brady was still playing his best
Remarkably at the age when most great quarterbacks have already been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Brady had one of the best seasons of his career in 2021.
He led the NFL in passing yards with 5,316 and passing touchdowns with 43. A case can be made that he is deserving of his fourth MVP, but that honor will likely go to Aaron Rodgers.
Although the Buccaneers were defeated by the Los Angeles Rams 30-27 in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, Brady engineered a comeback as the Bucs overcame a 27-3 deficit to tie the game late in the fourth quarter.
Some will say, why is he retiring now when he’s playing at such a high level? Well, there’s something to admire and respect when an athlete leaves a year early as opposed to a year too late. Brady’s main rival for the bulk of his career, Peyton Manning, may have won a Super Bowl in his final game, but he was a shell of the player he once was. Brady will be one of the few athletes that have the distinction of retiring when they’re still playing their best.
The Buccaneers have several key free agents
In their bid to try to repeat as Super Bowl champions, Tampa finished this season with a 13-4 record and won the NFC South. This was due in large part because general manager Jason Licht was able to bring back all of the starters from the Super Bowl LV team.
But Licht will be unable to duplicate that feat this offseason as the Buccaneers have several key free agents that include, Chris Godwin, Jason Pierre-Paul, Leonard Fournette, Ryan Jensen, Rob Gronkowski, Ndamukong Suh, Carlton Davis III, Ronald Jones II, as well as other free agents that play a pivotal role with the team.
Tampa will undoubtedly lose a few players from this list, and they could also lose offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich and defensive coordinator Todd Bowles who are both candidates for head coaching jobs elsewhere.
While Brady would have loved to finish his career in playing in his 11th Super Bowl, losing in the Divisional round might be as good as it’s going to get for Tampa over the next few years with all of the changes in the locker room.
Time for Tom Brady to be a full-time family man
Nobody was happier to see Tom Brady retire than his wife Gisele Bundchen, and Brady’s three children. As Brady stated in his retirement post on Instagram it’s time for him to focus his time and energy on other things that require his attention.
He certainly has nothing left to prove on the football field, so now it’s time to ride off into the sunset with his family.
Time will tell what retirement will hold for Brady, one thing is for certain, the Hall of Fame ceremony in 2027 will be flooded with New England Patriots fans, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans, as they pay homage to a man that meant so much to their franchises.
