AUGUST 22: The drama surrounding Brady, on this front at least, appears over. Tampa Bay’s starting quarterback has returned to practice, staying on Bowles’ initial timetable.
AUGUST 21: Brady is expected to be back early this week, with Rapoport tweeting that Monday is his expected day to return to practice. Pro Football Network’s Aaron Wilson details that Brady was with family during his absence, and that no health concerns are at play.
AUGUST 19: Bowles struck a different tone on Friday when speaking on the subject, saying (via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times) that he knows “exactly when Tom is coming back,” though he again did not name an exact date. He added that the vagueness in his remarks is due to the fact that “something unforeseen” could lead to a delay in Brady’s return, but insisted once more that “I’m not worried, so I don’t know why anyone else would be worried.”
AUGUST 18: When Todd Bowles announced Tom Brady was making an unusual mid-training camp exit, which took place Aug. 11, the new Buccaneers HC said he and the future Hall of Fame quarterback had discussed this matter prior to camp. That said, a Brady return date remains elusive.
Bowles said Thursday he does not know when exactly the recently unretired passer will return to the Bucs, via Greg Auman of The Athletic (on Twitter). The plan remains for Brady to return after the Bucs’ second preseason game — against the Titans on Saturday — though the timetable being foggy represents a new wrinkle here. Tampa Bay wraps its preseason slate Aug. 27.
“We’ll see. We’ll talk about it next week. I’m not concerned about it right now,” Bowles said of Brady’s status. “We’re trying to practice against Tennessee and play a game. I said sometime after Tennessee. There’s no definitive date for me. We’ll keep in touch and find out.”
Brady, 45, is believed to be attending to personal matters, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com notes (video link). The 23rd-year QB is in his third year in this Tampa Bay offense, which retained its play-caller (OC Byron Leftwich) despite Bruce Arians‘ surprise late-March retirement, and was not ticketed to play in the Bucs’ first two preseason games. The timing of this departure still qualifies this situation as one of the odder camp developments regarding a star player in recent memory. Brady has also not been available for questioning since the Dolphins’ tampering punishment — for speaking to Brady during his time with the Patriots and Bucs — surfaced.
The Bucs’ offseason shifted considerably on two Brady decisions — his February retirement and pre-free agency unretirement — with the team going from potentially retooling to making another run at a Super Bowl. Brady agreed to an offseason restructure as well, helping the Bucs create cap space to add more talent for 2022.
Set to be the oldest starting QB in NFL history, Brady is attached to just a $1.12MM base salary. His two Bucs contracts, however, have fully guaranteed him $75MM. Brady’s void years would begin to hit the Bucs in 2023, which features a $35MM-plus dead-money charge unless the parties agree to another extension before the ’23 league year begins. For now, however, the team remains in a clear contention window — whenever its starting quarterback returns.
The Steelers made Avery one of their Tuesday cuts, moving their roster down to the new 80-man limit. This came as a bit of a surprise, but Avery will nevertheless have another chance to catch on as a rotational rusher somewhere.
