Buccaneers
Tom Brady flirted with retirement earlier this offseason but ultimately came back after just 40 days. He says he didn’t do so with the intention of 2022 being his final season — although it could be. Brady maintains he’s taking an in-the-moment approach and doesn’t know when he’ll retire.
“I would say it’s year to year,” he said via Variety’s Ramin Setoodeh. “Could this be my last year? Absolutely. Could I change my mind? Absolutely. I’ve realized I don’t have five years left. I want to do it my way. I want to give it everything I got and see where I’m at. My body feels really good. I’ve had a lot of traumatic injuries over the years, but if things go really smoothly and we win, that’d be great.”
Brady elaborated on his retirement and unretirement, emphasizing things were moving quickly and the timing of both decisions was crucial. He also discussed how spending time with his family is becoming more and more of a consideration.
“I made the decision [to retire] in the moment, and I felt it was the right thing for the team to let the Bucs know,” Brady said. “You need time to plan. And then through conversations with Bruce [Arians], Jason [Licht] and my wife, I felt like I could still play and compete.
“And it’s not that I’m any less committed once I say that it’s a yes, but I’ve got a 14-year-old son who lives in New York City — he wants time. My wife, she’s been incredibly supportive of my career over a long period of time. So I had to talk with her, you know what I mean? Those decisions get made with me as a family. And I have two younger kids, one 12 and one 9 — everyone’s got challenging lives.”
He admitted the whiplash aspect of the whole situation was not ideal.
“I know, I know. I would have preferred to un-retire in July if I wanted to play,” Brady said. “But I couldn’t. If I said I’m not playing, they’d make plans. So I felt there was a lot of pressure to make a decision quickly. And then ultimately, I just decided, ‘Yes, let’s do it.’ And once I said that, it was like — OK, here we go.”
Falcons
- Falcons DT Eddie Goldman‘s one-year deal is worth a total of $1.27 million, with a $1.12 million base salary and $152,500 signing bonus. (Over The Cap)
- Goldman will count only $1.04 million against the cap under the veteran salary benefit, while $895,000 of his base salary is guaranteed.
Panthers
Panthers CB C.J. Henderson says he felt like he really started his career over last year after being traded to Carolina.
“Yeah, I feel a lot more comfortable,” Henderson said, via Panthers.com. “I feel like my sophomore year (in the NFL), I really started my career over.”
Henderson said he doesn’t feel a lot of pressure and sees it as more of a “high standard” to live up to.
“Don’t feel like it’s pressure at all; it’s more of a higher standard we have to live up to each and every practice and every game,” Henderson said. “That makes us all better at the end. It helps us compete with each other and against each other. One day somebody gets an interception; the next day, someone gets two. It’s competitive.
“It’s just getting a feel for guys. Certain guys react to things in different ways. So you’ve got to know what they’re like, how they want to be spoken to.”
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