We still don’t know exactly what went into Tom Brady’s decision to end his brief retirement and return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but former quarterback Chris Simms has presented a new detail.
In an appearance on the “God Bless Football” podcast, Simms said the Buccaneers were prepared to accept a second-round pick for Brady from the Miami Dolphins as part of a widely-reported effort to bring Brady to Miami. Simms believes Brady retired in order to assess his options. Simms claims Brady ended his retirement when the Buccaneers essentially threatened to seriously pursue other quarterbacks.
“Tampa Bay called Brady, from what I know, and was basically like, ‘Hey, we are going to start flirting with some of these quarterbacks that are out here, Deshaun Watson.’ They were going to get serious about all those conversations,” Simms said, via Nate Bouda of NFL Trade Rumors. “That’s when Brady was like, ‘Alright, I guess I have to make a decision here. I don’t really have any other options. I’m going to come back to you guys.'”
This sounds like the Bucs wanted to give every opportunity to Brady to return to the team. That would be understandable, considering how much better of an option Brady is than almost anyone else.
What’s also funny is that the last QB linked to the Bucs was quite an interesting one. Maybe Brady heard enough of that and decided he had to make his return.
More must-reads: