Tom Brady’s Non-Answer About Return
Tom Brady‘s 2021 season is over. Following a thrilling loss to the Rams in which the Buccaneers just fell short of their comeback bid, Brady was asked about how he will contemplate whether to come back or not. Brady’s thoughts were clearly still centered on the loss he had endured moments before. 
“I haven’t put a lot of thought into it. So, we’ll just take it day by day and see where we’re at,” Brady replied. He continued, “Truthfully, guys, I’m thinking about this game and not thinking about anything past 5 minutes from now.”
Our staff writer, Rory Parks, expanded quite a bit on Brady’s non-committal attitude going into the Divisional Round game, and it appears his attitude has not changed quite yet.
As a result of the one-year extension Brady signed last March, he is under club control through 2022, and he affirmed several months after he put pen to paper that he would honor his commitment. Indeed, he has long said that he wants to play until he is 45, and 2022 would be his age-45 season.
In brighter news for the Buccaneers, head coach Bruce Arians has already spread the news that he is not retiring. Through three years in Tampa Bay, Arians has already added a Lombardi Trophy to the case. The 69-year old plans to coach until he can’t anymore. He also told reporters (before today’s loss) that he would be “shocked” if Brady called it quits after this season. We’ll have to wait a bit longer to see just how well Arians knows his veteran quarterback.
Buccaneers’ Bruce Arians Won’t Retire
The Buccaneers are done, but head coach Bruce Arians isn’t. Moments after the Bucs’ heartbreaking loss to the Rams, the Bucs head coach confirmed that he’ll be back this fall (Twitter link via Sara Walsh of FOX Sports). That jibes with what Arians has been saying for years now, including his latest comments just last week. 
[RELATED: Brady On Future, Possibility Of Retirement]
“I’m coaching till I can’t,” said Arians, who will celebrate his 70th birthday in October (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport).
However, it remains to be seen whether Arians will have Tom Brady under center next season. For what it’s worth, Arians told reporters on Friday (before today’s loss) that he would be “shocked” if Brady calls it quits.
“The way he was at practice, I would be shocked if he didn’t (play next year),” Arians said (via the Tampa Bay Times). “You know they have that Friday quarterback challenge, and he came flying out of the locker room, sprinting two or three fields away and couldn’t wait to get into the challenge. He was like a little kid. I would be shocked.”
Meanwhile, Arians may need to make some new hires to his coaching staff. Defensive coordinator Todd Bowles and offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich are both up for head coaching jobs and they could be poached as soon as this week.
Tom Brady Non-Committal To Playing 2022 Season
In advance of the Buccaneers’ wildcard round matchup with the Eagles last week, Tampa Bay QB coach Clyde Christensen said of quarterback Tom Brady, “I’m your typical fan, and I’ll be thinking, ‘is this the last time we’re going to see him?'” (via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times).
It was not, of course, the last time Brady would take the field, as the Bucs handily dispatched Philadelphia to advance to today’s divisional round contest against the Rams. However, Christensen’s comments were a precursor to increased speculation about Brady’s future. As Albert Breer of SI.com tweets, “the drumbeat’s gotten louder on the idea” that Brady could retire after the 2021 season.
As a result of the one-year extension Brady signed last March, he is under club control through 2022, and he affirmed several months after he put pen to paper that he would honor his commitment. Indeed, he has long said that he wants to play until he is 45, and 2022 would be his age-45 season.
However, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports hears that several of Brady’s teammates believe the current playoff run will mark Brady’s last ride. As one source close to the seven-time Super Bowl winner put it, “Nothing’s been said, but there is a sense among some guys in the locker room that this is it, one way or the other. It’s just little things here or there they are picking up on. Maybe it turns out to be nothing.”
La Canfora is not the only national beat to pass along that type of report. This morning, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com and Adam Schefter and Jeff Darlington of ESPN.com also wrote that Brady’s status for the 2022 campaign is very much in doubt. That comes on the heels of longtime Patriots teammate Rob Ninkovich‘s appearance on ESPN’s “Get Up!”, in which Ninkovich indicated he would not be surprised if Brady elected to call it a career at season’s end (video link).
Schefter and Darlington say that Brady is non-committal to playing next year, and that he will take a month or more after the season is over to determine how he feels physically and mentally and to speak about the matter with his family. They also posit that, if the Bucs should repeat as Super Bowl champs, it will increase the likelihood that Brady steps away.
None of this should really be all that surprising. Brady is 44, after all, and his ability to maintain an elite level of performance after all these years is unprecedented. It stands to reason that, at this point in his career, he would want to take some time after the season is over to assess the situation. And as one source told Rapoport, Brady hasn’t thought about 2022 and beyond yet simply because he is singularly focused on the Rams game.
On the other hand, as RapSheet observes, the fact that Brady has not yet definitively stated he will return is a little unusual. Ordinarily, he would have already announced his plan to continue his playing career by this point in the calendar.
Even if Brady does come back, the Bucs will likely look a lot different. The organization managed to retain every starter on the Super Bowl LV squad in its pursuit of a repeat, but that will be impossible to do this year (though Schefter and Darlington report that the Bucs are willing to “bend over backwards” to entice Brady to come back). As Stroud writes, head coach Bruce Arians believes his QB will return for his age-45 season, and with Brady under center, Tampa Bay can remain competitive even if they do have to part ways with a number of other key contributors.
This year, Brady led the league in passing yards (5,316, a career-best) and threw 43 TDs against 12 interceptions. Those 43 touchdown passes were the second-highest total in his career, behind only his otherworldly 2007 campaign with New England.
Minor NFL Transactions: 1/22/22
Here are Saturday’s minor moves:
Buffalo Bills
- Promoted: DB Nick McCloud, DB Josh Thomas
Los Angeles Rams
- Promoted: DB Blake Countess, S Eric Weddle
- Designated for return: RB Darrell Henderson, DL Sebastian Joseph-Day, DB Robert Rochell
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Activated from IR: RB Leonard Fournette (story)
- Promoted: WR John Brown, TE Ryan Griffin
- Released: RB Le’Veon Bell
Buccaneers Activate Leonard Fournette From IR, Waive Le’Veon Bell
After the Buccaneers played without their top two running backs in their wild-card game, they are set to have one of them back against the Rams.
Leonard Fournette is coming off IR and will play Sunday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Tampa Bay’s starting back has been out since suffering a hamstring injury in Week 15. The Bucs designated Fournette for return last week but kept him on IR ahead of their Eagles matchup, moving forward with Ke’Shawn Vaughn and Giovani Bernard.
This week, Fournette should play a major role. While it is not certain if the former top-five pick will be up for his pre-injury workload, the Bucs having their leading rusher back will certainly help their cause. The team’s running game might encounter tougher-than-usual sledding, given some key offensive line injuries.
Ryan Jensen and Tristan Wirfs did get in limited practices this week, but The Athletic’s Jeff Howe tweets the latter is dealing with a high ankle sprain. This troublesome ailment could keep Wirfs out, and even if the All-Pro right tackle plays, he figures to be far less than 100%. Wirfs has yet to miss a game in two seasons.
The Bucs will also be without Fournette backup Ronald Jones, but their primary 2020 back has not been much of a factor this season. After gaining only 367 rushing yards in 2020, which featured time as a healthy scratch, Fournette totaled 1,266 scrimmage yards and matched his career-high with 10 touchdowns despite the hamstring injury ending his regular season early. Fournette returning to his “Playoff Lenny” form would stand to cement his value ahead of free agency, which should feature a better market for the ex-Jaguar this time around.
To make room for Fournette, the Bucs are waiving Le’Veon Bell, Greg Auman of The Athletic tweets. This marks the second time this season a team has waived the former All-Pro. The Ravens cut bait during the regular season. Bell, however, makes sense as practice squad insurance for the Bucs. Bell’s route back to Tampa Bay’s taxi squad would be fairly smooth, given his one-year contract and any team claiming Bell being unable to use him in the playoffs.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 1/18/22
Today’s taxi squad moves:
Cincinnati Bengals
- Signed: DT Doug Costin
- Released: P Drue Chrisman, LS Colin Holba
Kansas City Chiefs
- Released: DE Shilique Calhoun, TE Nakia Griffin-Stewart, CB Josh Jackson, LB Elijah Sullivan
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed: WR Warren Jackson, TE Kyle Markway
- Released: K Ryan Santoso, LS Carson Tinker
San Francisco 49ers
- Released: CB Luq Barcoo, P Ryan Winslow
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: WR Justin Watson
- Released: P Sterling Hofrichter, DB Blidi Wreh-Wilson
Vikings Request Interview With Rams’ DC Raheem Morris
Another name has been added to the list of potential head coaching candidates in Minnesota. The team has requested an interview with Raheem Morris, the current Rams defensive coordinator (Twitter link via NFL Network’s Peter Schrager). 
Morris, 45, has an NFL coaching background dating back to 2002. He has spent time primarily as a defensive backs coach, serving in that role in Tampa Bay (on two different occasions, including the Super Bowl XXXVII-winning squad) and Washington. However, he also took over as the Bucs’ head coach after the firing of Jon Gruden in January of 2009. He had an encouraging year in 2010, posting a 10-6 record, but the one preceding and following that campaign saw the team put up a combined record of 7-25.
After a three year stint in Washington, Morris got his next prominent coaching positions in Atlanta. He served as an assistant head coach and pass game coordinator from his arrival in 2015 to 2019. Then, in 2020, he became the team’s DC until taking over as interim HC following Dan Quinn’s firing. He interviewed to remain in Atlanta on a full-time basis, but the team ultimately went with former Titans OC Arthur Smith.
This past offseason, Morris was hired by the Rams to take over for now-Chargers HC Brandon Staley as the team’s defensive coordinator. His work in L.A. has prompted many to expect more head coaching opportunities, so it was surprising this is the first request he has received in the 2022 coaching cycle.
The news brings the total number of candidates linked to the Vikings’ HC vacancy to ten. Here is the updated list:
- Todd Bowles, defensive coordinator (Buccaneers): Interview requested
- Jonathan Gannon, defensive coordinator (Eagles): Interview requested
- Aaron Glenn, defensive coordinator (Lions): Mentioned as candidate
- Nathaniel Hackett, offensive coordinator (Packers): Interviewed 1/16
- Kellen Moore, offensive coordinator (Cowboys): Interview requested
- Kevin O’Connell, offensive coordinator (Rams): Interview requested
- Dan Quinn, defensive coordinator (Cowboys): Interview requested
- Doug Pederson, former head coach (Eagles): Interview requested
- DeMeco Ryans, defensive coordinator (49ers): Interview requested
- Raheem Morris, defensive coordinator (Rams): Interview Requested
Updated 2022 NFL Draft Order
With the Wild Card round complete, another six positions in the 2022 NFL Draft have been confirmed.
One of the most interesting developments relates to the Philadelphia Eagles. After losing on Sunday, their own first round pick has been locked in at No. 19, having already known they would also own the 15th and 16th selections. What the team does with that much draft capital will be one of the most interesting storylines of the draft.
For non-playoff teams, the draft order is determined by the inverted 2021 standings, plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule. For playoff teams, the order is determined by their postseason outcome and regular season record.
Here is the updated order after this weekend’s results:
- Jacksonville Jaguars: 3-14
- Detroit Lions: 3-13-1
- Houston Texans: 4-13
- New York Jets: 4-13
- New York Giants: 4-13
- Carolina Panthers: 5-12
- New York Giants(via Bears)
- Atlanta Falcons: 7-10
- Denver Broncos: 7-10
- New York Jets (via Seahawks)
- Washington Football Team: 7-10
- Minnesota Vikings: 8-9
- Cleveland Browns: 8-9
- Baltimore Ravens: 8-9
- Philadelphia Eagles (via Dolphins)
- Philadelphia Eagles (via Colts)
- Los Angeles Chargers: 9-8
- New Orleans Saints: 9-8
- Philadelphia Eagles: 9-8
- Pittsburgh Steelers: 9-7-1
- New England Patriots: 10-7
- Las Vegas Raiders: 10-7
- Arizona Cardinals: 11-6
- Dallas Cowboys: 12-5
- Cincinnati Bengals: 10-7*
- Miami Dolphins (via 49ers)
- Buffalo Bills: 11-6*
- Detroit Lions (via Rams)
- Kansas City Chiefs: 12-5*
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 13-4*
- Tennessee Titans: 12-5*
- Green Bay Packers: 13-4*
* = Remaining playoff teams
Injury Updates For 49ers, Buccaneers
While the Buccaneers and 49ers both won on Sunday, they each suffered major injuries in the process. For the 49ers, defensive stars Nick Bosa and Fred Warner both exited the game early; for the Bucs meanwhile, offensive linemen Tristan Wirfs, Ryan Jensen and Josh Wells are all banged up.
According to Eric Brach of the San Francisco Chronicle, the status for both Bosa and Warner are “up in the air”. Bosa had to leave the game with a concussion suffered in the second quarter, while Warner exited due to an ankle injury in the fourth. In the latter’s case, there is some reason for optimism, though. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said that Warner’s injury is “similar to what he did earlier in the year”, referring to another ankle injury sustained in Week 12 against the Vikings, which resulted in his only missed game of the season. Shanahan added, “I think he’s got a chance” to play on Saturday against the Packers. In his first regular season since signing a record-breaking extension, Warner totalled 137 tackles, four pass deflections and a forced fumble, adding five stops against the Cowboys. The 25-year-old tweeted an encouraging update, saying, “sorry for the scare yesterday everyone… we’ll be good to go”.
For Bosa, on the other hand, a return to the field would be less likely. After colliding with teammate D.J. Jones, his head snapped back, and caused him to lay on the field for a matter of minutes. He was initially taken to the medial tent, but spent the remainder of the first half in the locker room and remained there past the beginning of the third quarter. The fact that the 49ers are on a short week doesn’t help his chances of clearing the league’s concussion protocol. In less than one half of action against Dallas, the two-time Pro Bowler recorded three tackles and a half-sack, after totalling 15.5 sacks and four forced fumbles in 17 regular season games. His absence against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers’ offense would be massive.
Meanwhile, the Buccaneers will likely have to wait most of the week to see how healthy their offensive line will be. Head coach Bruce Arians stated that Wirfs, the team’s All-Pro right tackle, suffered a sprained ankle and will be in a walking boot throughout the week, according to ESPN’s Jenna Laine. Arians said “there’s a chance” Wirfs will be able to play, but that Laine adds “it will likely come down to the wire”. If the 2020 13th overall pick were to miss the Bucs’ next game, it would be the first of his young career. As for Jensen, the Pro Bowl center, an ankle sprain didn’t cause him to miss any snaps in the game, but Arians said he “will probably go all the way until Friday before we know anything true”. Jensen hasn’t missed a game in his four years in Tampa Bay.
Lastly, Wells, who took over for Wirfs at right tackle, suffered a quad injury. Like the others, Arians admitted the team will “have to wait and see” if he’ll be available on Sunday. Arians is understandably concerned about the offensive line’s current health situation, regardless of their next opponent. The Bucs will need to deal with either a defensive front featuring Chandler Jones and J.J. Watt if the Cardinals win tonight, or one featuring Aaron Donald and Von Miller in the event the Rams win.
Minor NFL Transactions: 1/15/22
Here are Saturday’s minor moves:
Dallas Cowboys
- Promoted: S Darian Thompson
Kansas City Chiefs
- Promoted: WR Daurice Fountain, RB Darwin Thompson
Philadelphia Eagles
- Promoted: OL Kayode Awosika, WR KeeSean Johnson, DE Cameron Malveaux, TE Richard Rodgers
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Activated from IR: WR JuJu Smith-Schuster
- Waived: P Corliss Waitman
San Francisco 49ers
- Promoted: CB Darqueze Dennard, LB Mark Nzeocha
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Activated from IR: RB Giovani Bernard, LB Lavonte David
- Promoted: RB Kenjon Barner, WR Codey McElroy
- Waived: CB Rashard Robinson, WR Justin Watson