Buccaneers' Todd Bowles: Tom Brady is 'still a young man'

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles sounds unconvinced quarterback Tom Brady is closer to retirement than to his physical prime. 

"He’s still a young man," Bowles said about Brady during his latest appearance on the Buccaneers Radio Network, per the Joe Bucs Fan website. "He can play as long as he likes right now because he prepares so well. He does everything the right way. And he loves to play the game. You rarely find somebody — I’m not going to say, 'that age' — but the older players that love to practice and love to play. He still loves both."

Brady turned 45 years old in August and appeared to show his age during portions of a season that included the signal-caller and Gisele Bündchen confirming their divorce after 13 years of marriage in late October. As Scott Smith mentioned for the Buccaneers' website, though, Brady also set a new single-season NFL completions record for the second straight campaign. 

According to ESPN, Brady enters the playoffs leading the league with 490 completions and 733 pass attempts. While he's third with 4,694 passing yards and ninth with a 66.8% completion percentage, he's 18th among qualified quarterbacks with a 90.7 passer rating and a 52.6 total QBR. He's also tied for 31st with an average of 6.4 yards per pass attempt. 

Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht, retired tight end Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, and Brady himself all previously suggested the seven-time Super Bowl champion could continue playing past his 50th birthday. Bowles seems open to welcoming Brady back for at least one more season, but the future Hall of Famer can hit free agency when the new NFL year opens in March and is already being linked with multiple potential suitors. 

Brady hasn't yet confirmed he'll continue playing past Tampa Bay's final game this winter. The Buccaneers host the Dallas Cowboys in a wild-card showdown this coming Monday night.