Tom Brady hints he decided to retire one day after Buccaneers' 2021 season ended

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady may have revealed exactly when he decided to temporarily retire from playing last winter. 

As explained by the Joe Bucs Fan website and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Hall-of-Famer Steve Young and Brady discussed the possibility that Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers could soon ride off into the sunset during the latest edition of the "Let’s Go!" SiriusXM show and podcast. 

"Those are absolutely legitimate feelings and emotions," Brady said while responding to a point made by Young. "And I think the most important thing is the day after the season, and I made this mistake, is not to decide the future." 

Brady and the 2021 Buccaneers were eliminated from last year's postseason tournament by the Los Angeles Rams on January 23. It was first reported the following Friday that Brady was "preparing to retire from the game" and could make the announcement "in the coming days." The seven-time Super Bowl champion confirmed via social media on Feb. 1 he was retiring, but he later announced his un-retirement on March 13. 

As Florio pointed out, Brady seemingly was more so retiring from the Buccaneers than from playing in the NFL last February. It was learned before the end of that month that the Miami Dolphins allegedly wanted to land both Brady and former New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton, and Brady didn't deny in June he may have been interested in making such a move at the time. Instead, Brady returned for another season with the Buccaneers, and a subsequent NFL investigation found the Dolphins guilty of violating tampering rules regarding the signal-caller and Payton. 

Brady can hit free agency when the new league year opens in March and is being heavily linked with the Las Vegas Raiders even before Tampa Bay hosts the Dallas Cowboys in a playoff game next Monday night. While TB12 could always elect to run it back with the Buccaneers for another campaign, it sounds as if he was ready to move on from the franchise even before last January's win-or-go-home matchup against Los Angeles.