The Tampa Bay Buccaneers haven’t been very good lately.
Not only did they go 7-9 in 2019, but they also haven’t advanced to the NFL playoffs since the 2007 season, a 12-year drought in which the Bucs posted a winning record just three times.
Yet optimism in Tampa is at an all-time high now that Tom Brady has arrived. The six-time Super Bowl champion enjoyed unprecedented success with the New England Patriots and sounds extremely motivated to help a talented Buccaneers team achieve its full potential in 2020.
NFL insider Jay Glazer was asked in his most recent mailbag for The Athletic how he thinks Brady will affect Tampa Bay’s offense this season and whether the quarterback’s arm remains strong enough ahead of his age-43 campaign.
Here’s what Glazer wrote:
You look at the weapons he has at his disposal, those two big wide receivers in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin but also O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate — he has a ton of weapons he can use that he didn’t have in New England.
The bigger part is what he is going to do off the field. He is going to elevate everyone’s work ethic. They are going to get a chance to see how hard he works and how smart he works.
I had Sean Payton on my “Fox Football Now” show last week and he spoke about how Brady has that Michael Jordan-factor. He makes everyone else around him look like Pro Bowlers. He makes everyone seem so much better. That’s really what the true meaning of greatness is.
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Well, count Glazer among Brady’s believers.
Brady showed some regression last season as the Patriots’ offense sputtered. But there were several other factors — a lack of reliable pass-catchers, an inconsistent rushing attack and a shoddy offensive line — that perhaps were mostly to blame for New England’s struggles moving the football.
The widespread presumption is Brady will bounce back in 2020 now that he’s surrounded by a much more talented supporting cast on offense. And the real game-changer, as Glazer notes, could be Brady’s leadership, which has the potential to change the entire culture in Tampa Bay for the better.
