Tom Brady Gets Another Weapon In Giovani Bernard
BOSTON (CBS) -- Fresh off a dominant Super Bowl win, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are adding talent.
The team added veteran running back Giovani Bernard on Monday, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. The report noted that Tom Brady -- along with head coach Bruce Arians -- "personally recruited" Bernard to join up with the Super Bowl champs in Tampa.
Bernard, 29, played eight seasons for the Bengals, who drafted him with the 37th overall pick in 2013. He's been a threat as a runner and a pass catcher throughout his career, averaging 4.0 yards per rushing attempt and 8.4 yards per reception. He's coming off a decent bounceback season in 2020, when he amassed 771 yards from scrimmage with six touchdowns (three rushing, three receiving).
The Buccaneers had pursued Patriots running back James White this offseason, but White opted to remain in New England.
Bernard will join up with running backs Ronald Jones and Leonard Fournette, who was also personally recruited by Brady last year and helped the Bucs win that Super Bowl. The Buccaneers have also re-signed wide receiver Chris Godwin (on the franchise tag) and tight end Rob Gronkowski, bringing back all of their contributors from the 2020 season except for Antonio Brown.
