Home Opinion Editorial Could The Buccaneers’ Conservative Ways Drive Brady Out Of Tampa?

Buccaneers' quarterback Tom Brady / via ESPN

Could The Buccaneers’ Conservative Ways Drive Brady Out Of Tampa?

December 10, 2022

The speculation of where Buccaneers’ quarterback Tom Brady will play in 2023 is being ramped up. Will he stay in Tampa? Would he consider becoming a free agent? Dies he even plan on playing?

One Major Reason

According to The Athletic’s Jeff Howe, there’s one major reason Brady wouldn’t play in Tampa in 2023. That reason according to Howe is…Byron Leftwich.

Howe is plugged on and has spoken with several NFL front office guys. So this isn’t just some throwing sh¡t at the wall reporting by Howe.

When you have a dismal running game and offensive line issues you’re in trouble as an offense. When you couple that with the questionable play calling by Leftwich, it’s a recipe for, well, a crap offense.

We only need to look back as far as last week’s game against the Saints for confirmation on Leftwich’s inability to utilize this team’s weapons. Brady was visibly upset when the Buccaneers decided to punt late against New Orleans. And while that’s not necessarily Leftwich’s decision it shows a greater problem with the entire coaching staff.

Conservatism Killed The GOAT

Head coach Todd Bowles is conservative in his approach to coaching and decision making with the offense. It’s who he is, it’s how he rolls. But that conservatism might be exactly why Brady would leave the Buccaneers after the season. It’s just hard to imagine Brady coming back to Tampa without some major changes in either the coaching staff or philosophy.

Brady has stated he wanted to stay in the same time zone as his oldest son is in. That bodes well for the Bucs as his oldest son lives in the eastern time zone. But is that enough? I mean there are plenty of teams in the eastern time zone right? So the Bucs can’t hang their hopes on that.

We have to mention the Bucs struggles with injuries this season. Starting with Ryan Jensen all the way through Tristan Wirfs’ injuries, it’s been an uphill battle. An up hill battle that has left this team with a 6-6 record.

No Risk It, No Brady?

Brady originally came to the Bucs because of the roster they had and to work with Buce Arians. Unfortunately Bruce isn’t the coach anymore and the majority of that roster that enticed Brady has either retired, signed elsewhere or is injured. Just look at the offensive and defensive lines. No Ndamukong Suh, no JPP, no Shaq Barrett, no Ryan Jensen, no Ali Marpet, no Alex Cappa and now no Wirfs. Add on the retirement of Brady’s buddy and all-world tight end Rob Gronkowski and I this roster is a shell of itself.

Decision Time

Would Bowles fire Leftwich and bring in a hand-picked coordinator for Brady? I doubt it, and if he did, the conservative style is still Bowles calling card. So what’s really being changed?

This is the problem, Brady came here to have the reigns taken off of him. Arians’ style is what he coveted and what Brady and the team flourished under. So why would Brady stay if everything else on Tampa stays status quo? The answer is most likely he wouldn’t.

Glazers To The Rescue?

The next question is, will the team owners allow this coaching staff to essentially run the Golden Goose out of town and stick with Bowles? Because that’s basically what looks to be happening.