Tom Brady: ESPN tried to hire him 'at different times' before signing with Fox

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady delivered some fascinating answers when speaking with Variety's Ramin Setoodeh for a piece published on Thursday. 

The seven-time Super Bowl champion admitted he "absolutely" could change his mind about whether or not the 2022 season will be his last as an active player before he becomes Fox Sports' lead NFL analyst on a deal reportedly worth $375M over 10 years. Brady also said he won't immediately head to Fox in January if the Buccaneers somehow miss out on the postseason tournament. 

Unsurprisingly, Fox wasn't the only network to court the G.O.A.T. during his short-lived retirement this past winter. Setoodeh asked Brady if ESPN ever reached out about a gig. 

"Yeah, at different times. There were a lot of different opportunities I was approached with," the future Hall of Famer who turns 45 years old in early August remarked about the Worldwide Leader. 

Brady also spoke about how he ultimately put pen to paper on the Fox contract. 

"They approached me after the season," Brady explained. "And there’s a lot of history that I have with Fox. I spoke with their executives, and I really had to evaluate if that’s what I wanted to commit to. I have a very unique perspective on football and how it should be played, and what good plays look like and what bad plays look like. I feel like I can still have a great impact on the game. I could stay in the game, doing what I love to do, talking about this incredible sport." 

Brady added that he was ready to remain away from football, perhaps temporarily, during his retirement even during the discussions with Fox. 

"Initially, I told them I didn’t want to do it," he continued during his comments. "There was a lot of different emotions. I couldn’t make the decision from the place where I needed to be. For the first time, I was a free agent in life. It’s different than being a free agent in football when one of 31 teams can come after you. I had lots of different people say, 'You’re free now; we’d love to have you involved in' — different parts of football, broadcasting, business and finance."

Assuming the reports are accurate, Fox gave Brady about 37.5 million reasons per year over a decade to make the move to the booth whenever he's ready to call time on his playing days.