NFL Insider Assesses Likelihood Of Tom Brady Coming Out Of Retirement

With every public speaking opportunity he’s had since announcing his NFL retirement, Tom Brady has kept the door open about possibly returning to the football field.

Perhaps the future Hall of Fame quarterback simply wants to keep his name in the news.

On the heels of Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians making it clear he’d be surprised if Brady came out of retirement this offseason, ESPN NFL insider Jeff Darlington reported TB12 currently has no intention of putting the pads back on.

“Well, first of all, the Bucs are not naive,” Darlington said Wednesday on “Get Up.” “When you hear them saying the door is open for Tom, they’re not naive to the fact that it’s very unlikely. Arians told me exactly that. We talked for a while about it. I talked to Jason Licht about it for a while as well.

“… If Tom Brady in a few months gets the itch to come back — which, by the way, let me be very clear: That is not the case right now at all. But if that were to happen, yeah, they would entertain it. Of course they would. But let’s just all settle down and relax because it is very unlikely at this point. Talking to Arians and talking to Licht, they do know that as well.”

Many have argued Brady is done in Tampa Bay, but he has a desire to play elsewhere. Even if that’s true, the Bucs, who currently hold the 44-year-old’s rights, would need to facilitate a trade in order for Brady to play with a different team. And Arians on Tuesday stressed Tampa Bay would not be open to the “bad business” of trading Brady.

All told, we probably shouldn’t bank on Brady playing in the 2022 season.