The big news from yesterday is that another NFL team will need to locate a veteran stopgap at quarterback. Tampa Bay managed to have some success with an aging passer the last two years, but that's over now. Tom Brady has retired, probably, so the Blaine Gabbert Era is on.
Seriously though, kudos to Tom Brady, who retires at pretty near the top of his game, and just an overtime loss from perhaps yet another Super Bowl ring. (For now, we’re going with the initial reporting from yesterday, rather than the ensuing denials from his father, though it’s very possible someone jumped the gun here.)
It's not often that a player steps away from his sport without getting many dissenting opinions on the idea of him being The GOAT. Wayne Gretzky perhaps, Michael Jordan for sure. And Brady.
The most remarkable thing (next to all them Super Bowl rings) is how Brady produced nearly all of his best numbers as he got older. Yes, the league has become more quarterback friendly with each passing year, and we've seen a number of quarterbacks (including Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, and even Philip Rivers) produce one or two of the best years of their careers at advanced ages. It happens far more now, in a league where offenses have all the advantages over defenses, than it used to.
But Brady didn't turn in one or two great years as an older quarterback, like Favre and Manning did. He churned them out in nearly all of the back half of his career, even while changing teams. Six of the eight best years of his 20-year career as a starter (2001-2021, leaving out the 2008 season when he was hurt), have come in his most recent decade of play, 2012-Present. None of his 10 best seasons came before the age of the 30.
Table is sorted by total fantasy points in each of Brady's seasons (4-point TD passes, 1 point per every 20 passing yards). Totals in bold are from the most recent decade of his career.
| TOM BRADY, TOP FANTASY SEASONS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Age | PaYds | PaTD | RuTD | FF Pts |
| 2007 | 30 | 4806 | 50 | 2 | 462.1 |
| 2021 | 44 | 5316 | 43 | 2 | 449.8 |
| 2011 | 34 | 5235 | 39 | 3 | 446.7 |
| 2015 | 38 | 4770 | 36 | 3 | 410.4 |
| 2020 | 43 | 4633 | 40 | 3 | 410.3 |
| 2012 | 35 | 4827 | 34 | 4 | 404.6 |
| 2017 | 40 | 4577 | 32 | 0 | 363.7 |
| 2018 | 41 | 4355 | 29 | 2 | 350.9 |
| 2010 | 33 | 3900 | 36 | 1 | 348.0 |
| 2009 | 32 | 4398 | 28 | 1 | 344.3 |
| 2014 | 37 | 4109 | 33 | 0 | 343.2 |
| 2005 | 28 | 4110 | 26 | 1 | 324.4 |
| 2013 | 36 | 4343 | 25 | 0 | 323.0 |
| 2019 | 42 | 4057 | 24 | 3 | 322.3 |
| 2002 | 25 | 3764 | 28 | 1 | 321.2 |
| 2004 | 27 | 3692 | 28 | 0 | 299.4 |
| 2016 | 39 | 3554 | 28 | 0 | 298.1 |
| 2006 | 29 | 3529 | 24 | 0 | 286.7 |
| 2003 | 26 | 3620 | 23 | 1 | 285.3 |
| 2001 | 24 | 2843 | 18 | 0 | 221.8 |
So the Bucs will need a new quarterback. Unlikely it would be veteran backup Blaine Gabbert. Last year's second-rounder Kyle Trask is the theoretical heir apparent, but Trask wasn't even active for a game as a rookie, so would take a leap of faith to imagine him as a Week 1 starter. Add the Bucs to the list of possibilities for veterans who may be on the move this offseason.
As for Brady, well, we probably won't see his like again. Certainly not a 7-time Super Bowl champ.
--Andy Richardson