Amid the sudden news that Bruce Arians would retire as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, many on Twitter were quick to suggest the decision came in order to accommodate the return of quarterback Tom Brady.
Near the end of the regular season, there were rumors about a deteriorating relationship between Arians and Brady. Arians denied Brady’s return had anything to do with his own decision — at least in a negative aspect. But a new report from Rick Stroud of The Tampa Bay Times suggests that it would have been possible for Brady to plot his own un-retirement around Arians’ plans.
“Bucs QB Tom Brady was informed Bruce Arians planned to step down and Todd Bowles would succeed him as head coach either the same day or a day after the QB announced he was ending his retirement, The Tampa Bay Times has learned,” Stroud wrote on Twitter. “Team insists it was not related to Brady’s decision.”
Well, whatever the Buccaneers say, it seems as though Brady’s decision to return very well could have been influenced by Arians’ decision to step down. Arians said he wanted to step away now so he could give Bowles, the former defensive coordinator, the opportunity to start his run off on the right foot, and the return of Brady certainly is step in the right direction.
It’s all pretty fishy. But of course, Arians always could pull a Brady and come out of retirement after all — even though he put down that idea.
