NFL Notes: Antonio Brown, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers

Antonio Brown

Free-agent WR Antonio Brown said during a recent interview that a few teams called him after his incident with the Buccaneers.

“A couple teams called,” Brown said, via Brad Callas of Complex.com. “I’m a football player, man. I’m a professional athlete. Let’s not get that twisted. That’s my main thing.”

Buccaneers

ESPN’s Adam Schefter thinks the retirement talk that’s bubbled up around Buccaneers QB Tom Brady recently is very real. 

“Tom Brady very well may come to the decision that he will play again. But, I think this is the first time that I think it’s even really a real decision about whether he might not play again,” Schefter said in a radio interview with WEEI via USA Today’s Henry McKenna.

“He’s talked about the sacrifice that goes into this — his family time, what he gives up, he’s got other business interests now,” Schefter added. “Does he really need to go out and try and win another Super Bowl, put up more passing yards? He’s got all the records. He’s got everything. I think it’s mentally exhausting, physically draining, all those things. Tom Brady’s a smart guy, when he says I haven’t thought about it and there will be time to think about it, of course, he’s thought about it. He just doesn’t want to talk about it right now, and that’s fair. He deserves that right.”

Aaron Rodgers

The source of Packers QB Aaron Rodgers‘ discontent with the team last offseason seemed to stem from conflict with the front office, with GM Brian Gutekunst fingered in a lot of reports as the chief culprit. However, over the course of the 2021 season, a lot was apparently done to mend that relationship. After the Packers’ season ended Saturday, Rodgers said his relationship with Gutekunst has improved dramatically in the past several months. 

“A lot, you know?” Rodgers said via Pro Football Talk. “A lot honestly. Brian came out and saw me on the west coast and we had some good conversations. And from the day I got back, I feel like there was earnest decisions on both sides to meet in the middle and communicate. I’m very thankful to be a part of the conversations I was a part of. I feel like my opinion mattered. To feel the even deeper and more meaningful support from him and him and [director of football operations] Russ [Ball] and [CEO] Mark [Murphy]. So that was definitely a special part of the season, to see that relationship grow. I think [he] put together a really nice team. A team that could have won the Super Bowl. And he deserves a lot of credit for some of the moves that he made. Disappointed we couldn’t put it together for him and the organization tonight.”