The timing of the announcement Tom Brady made Sunday night was not a coincidence.
Brady took to social media to inform the masses he will be returning to Tampa Bay for the 2022 NFL season. It was a major victory for the Buccaneers, but not just because they'll have their star signal-caller back under center this fall. Bruce Arians and company now can use Brady as a selling point when they speak with free agents, both internal and external.
One player who the Bucs won't have to worry about keeping in the fold is Ryan Jensen, who agreed to a new three-year deal with the organization Sunday night. According to ESPN's Jenna Laine, the veteran center made up his mind not long after Brady informed him of his plans.
"I'm gonna give you an example of how Brady has already gotten to work on trying to keep this roster intact," Laine said Monday morning on "SportsCenter. "Free agency kicks off today with the legal tampering period and before Brady even made his announcement to the world, I'm told he got on the phone and he called his center, Ryan Jensen. He was set to become an unrestricted free agent. He told Ryan, 'I'm coming back,' and because of that, Jensen was able to strike a new deal with the Bucs late last night for three years.
"They were able to get him at a pretty good rate, about $13 million per year. He was expected to command about $15 million on the open market because there are teams out there, like the Cincinnati Bengals, that have a dire need at offensive linemen. He certainly would have been a great candidate for that. Instead, Brady gets him back and I know that he's going to work on trying to get some of these other guys back, too."
Brady has plenty of work to do in trying to keep the majority of impending Bucs free agents in Tampa Bay. That list includes Rob Gronkowski, Leonard Fournette, Ndamukong Suh, Carlton Davis and Alex Cappa.
