Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

Tom Brady to become NFL career passing yards leader in New England?

Tom Brady entered the NFL when the New England Patriots drafted him with the No. 199 pick back in 2000, and those two entities were linked with each other until Brady's final contract with the club expired in March 2020. Brady ultimately signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and earned a seventh career Super Bowl ring, and the 44-year-old returns to New England this Sunday night for a clash that could be historic for more than the obvious reason. 

As Michael David Smith noted for Pro Football Talk, Brady (80,291) needs just 68 passing yards at the Patriots to leapfrog former New Orleans Saints starter and fellow future Hall of Famer Drew Brees (80,358) and set the new record for career yards through the air. 

Per ESPN stats, Brady is currently second in the NFL for the current season with 1,087 passing yards across three games, so logic suggests nothing short of an injury will prevent him from notching yet another historic achievement at Gillette Stadium and in front of fans who spent two decades cheering him on as he became the league's G.O.A.T. who still isn't slowing down and may play until he's 50. 

For what it's worth, Pittsburgh Steelers signal-caller Ben Roethlisberger is second on the all-time yards list among active players with 61,149, roughly 20,000 yards behind Brady. All due respect to Big Ben, but we don't think he'll flirt with approaching Brady's number at any point before both men call time on their careers. 

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