It's Official: Tom Brady Signs His Contract With Tampa Bay Buccaneers
BOSTON (CBS) -- If you were hoping Tuesday's news that Tom Brady was going to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was some sort of nightmare, it's time to wake up. Brady is officially a swashbuckler.
After a brief delay over where Brady would have his physical done, Brady officially signed his contract with Tampa Bay on Friday. The six-time Super Bowl champ seems pretty eager to join a team that has enjoyed just one winning season over the last nine years, as he was all smiles in his announcement on his Instagram page.
"Excited, humble and hungry," Brady said in his post. "If there is one thing I have learned about football, it's that nobody cares what you did last year or the year before that... you earn the trust and respect of those around through your commitment every single day
"I'm starting a new football journey and thankful for the Buccaneers for giving me an opportunity to do what I love to do. I look forward to meeting all my new teammates and coaches and proving to them that that they can believe and trust in me," he continued. "I have always believed that well done is better than well said, so I'm gonna not say much more -- I'm just gonna get to work!"
"Tom is the most successful quarterback in the history of our league, but what makes him so special is his ability to make those around him better," Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians said of his new quarterback. "I have had the privilege to work with some of the best passers in our game, and the characteristics they all possessed were the ability to lead and get the best out of their teammates. Tom is no different. He is a proven winner who will provide the leadership, accountability and work ethic necessary to lead us to our goal of winning another championship."
Brady will now look to close his Hall of Fame career by helping a franchise that has just one Super Bowl win in its 44 years. If Brady can lead the Bucs to the postseason next season, it will end a 12-year playoff drought in Tampa Bay. The team won four straight late in the season last year to flirt with the playoffs, but lost their last two games and finished 7-9. The Buccaneers have finished last in the NFC South in eight of the last 11 seasons.
Brady has as many victories in the Super Bowl as Tampa has postseason wins in franchise history.
The quarterback said his farewell to New England early Tuesday morning after a 20-year career in a Patriots uniform, saying his football journey would "take place elsewhere." Brady thanked head coach Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft in the lengthy statement, and then thanked Patriots fans for "a lifetime full of fun memories."
No terms of the deal were announced, but ESPN's Adam Schefter reported it's a two-year pact between Brady and the Bucs with $50 million guaranteed, plus another $9 million in potential incentives. Tampa Bay has a visit to New England scheduled during the 2021 season.
