Tom Brady’s return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers changed the entire landscape of the NFL. (Photo … [+] by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
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Less than two weeks after announcing his return to football, the Tom Brady effect is on full display.
On declaring his return after retirement of one month, Brady’s announcement Immediately put the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back in contention.
When it appeared that the Bucks might enter the 2022 season with Blaine Gabert or Kyle Trusk as their starting quarterback, Tampa Bay was considered a middle-pack team by betting sites, as reported by The Tampa Bay Times. K Matt Baker noted. In fact, one site (Bovada) immediately voted the Buccaneers a favorite at +700 odds. After Brady’s announcement to win the Super Bowl.
According to Baker, the Buccaneers’ chances of winning this entire season before Brady’s announcement were between +3300 and +2200.
Fast forward 10 days later and Brady’s verdict looks even better now than it did at the time. Due to the madness of free agency, there has been mass agitation throughout the league and this has been detrimental to the NFC as a whole.
Over the past two weeks, some of the best players in the league have made the jump from NFC to AFC. Stars like Russell Wilson, Davante Adams, Matt Ryan, Amari Cooper, and Khalil Mack all fault the convention lines.
Outside Brady, the only true game-breaking stars remaining in the NFC are quarterbacks Matthew Stafford, Kyler Murray and Aaron Rodgers.
The Packers are currently pursuing Adams’ trade and are looking for a new No. 1 option to replace the five-time pro bowler. Meanwhile, the Cardinals are currently dealing with an unhappy Kyler Murray as they try to find a solution to the young quarterback’s contract demands.
This leaves the Rams as the only true contender in NFC standing in the way of the Buccaneers. Keep in mind, the Buccaneers nearly beat them in the playoffs to overcome a 24-point deficit against the Rams. That was without his two top receivers in Chris Godwin (injury) and Antonio Brown (release) and without his top offensive lineman in tackle Tristan Wirfs.
Outside of the demolition of nearly all contenders in NFC, the Brady effect has been felt at home. That’s because shortly after Brady’s announcement, the Buccaneers’ key players began re-signing.
In fact, Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen made his decision re-sign with tampa bay Just hours after Brady’s social media announcement. In the following days, Carlton Davis resumed with the Buccaneers, Chris Godwin signed a new deal without the franchise tag and Tampa Bay was able to renegotiate the contracts of key players such as Mike Evans, Shaq Barrett and Cameron Brett. Was.
That’s not even mentioning the signing of Buccaneers wide receiver Russell Gage and safety Logan Ryan in free agency or his recent re-signing to run back Leonard Fournette.
Brady’s longtime partner – Rob Gronkowski – also Appears to be ready to sign again with weavers.
Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht recognized the Buccaneers’ trajectory and Brady’s impact on the NFL’s landscape during a recent interview earlier this week. Licht called Brady the “Ultimate Cheat Code”.
“Well, it definitely helps,” Licht said on Monday. “When you have a player like Tom, who’s the greatest quarterback ever, players want to play with that kind of guy if not the player. So, it definitely helped, I can’t lie. Us Got the ultimate cheat code with Tom. So, we’re going to take advantage of it when we have it. I think the players love it here, regardless. But, that’s the kind of player throwing the ball at them, or the ball Being on the other side of knowing that he’s your quarterback definitely helps.”
Before the introduction of free agency, it appeared that the Books were on the decline. Tampa Bay entered the cap space in the off-season with a very small amount — $3 million over the salary cap entering free agency — and it appeared as though they were destined to lose most of their top free agents.
With the stroke of a keyboard on a random Sunday in mid-March, Brady changed the entire landscape of the NFL entering the 2022 season.
The Buccaneers are now back as NFC favorites – and potentially the entire league – entering the 2022 season.
