National Football League

Did Tom Brady sour on Bucs? Arians calls report 'far-fetched'

Published Feb. 21, 2022 9:55 p.m. ET

Tom Brady has officially been retired from the NFL for three weeks, but that doesn't mean his name has stopped making headlines around the league.

While making an appearance on the "Let's Go!" podcast soon after his retirement, Brady indicated that you can "never say never" when discussing a possible return to the NFL.

But if that were the case, Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians doesn't anticipate that return coming with his team.

In a story published Sunday by the Tampa Bay Times, Arians shut down rumors that Brady could still make a comeback this soon after retirement.

"That would shock me," Arians said. "And he let us know in time to do the free agency like we've done in the past, that's why I don't see it happening.

"I don't know if there's really a story there."

The Buccaneers are entering an offseason of uncertainty with Brady now retiring, wide receiver Chris Godwin entering free agency and a host of other question marks surrounding their roster.

The franchise made an unexpected play for Brady in 2020, and they could potentially make another headline-grabbing move for another one of the NFL's elite quarterbacks this offseason.

With Russell Wilson possibly on the way out of Seattle, it has been reported that the Buccaneers have already begun doing research on the veteran quarterback.

There have also been reports of Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson possibly eyeing a move to Tampa Bay.

Meanwhile, as time has elapsed since Brady's retirement, reports have begun to surface that the future Hall of Fame quarterback and his head coach did not see eye-to-eye as Brady's tenure with the Buccaneers neared an end.

Understandably, Arians was upset by those reports and quickly dispelled them.

"It seems like there's one (story) every day now," Arians said. "Everybody is speculating he's going somewhere else. That don't bother me. This other (expletive), the relationship thing, that's so far-fetched."

There's no telling what truly went on behind closed doors in Tampa Bay this past season, but between the Antonio Brown saga and the latest stories about Brady and Arians' relationship, there is a possibility that the locker room was fractured.

Whether Brady's departure is the remedy remains to be seen.