Former Bucs QB Tom Brady reveals new intriguing tidbit about second retirement

Potential future Hall of Fame quarterback Philip Rivers came out of retirement after five seasons to join the Indianapolis Colts, and his return has sparked numerous conversations around the elder statesmen in the league.

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady used to be one of those old heads in the league before retiring for a second time following the 2022 season.

It was unlikely that Brady would unretire for a second time, but he recently revealed that a team did in fact reach out to him to see if he would, and it indeed sparked some intrigue from the greatest quarterback to ever play the game.

Which team do you think reached out to @TomBrady to unretire? 👀🤔 pic.twitter.com/AEY5ACC9I4
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 17, 2025

"When I retired the second time, there was a team that reached out to me," Brady said. "But I'm not gonna tell you who. I'm gonna leave you guys guessing on that. It was a little bit intriguing, but at that time, I was pretty certain that I was done done."

Brady admits to being 'done done' even after intriguing opportunity

Feb 7, 2021; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-Imagn Images | Matthew Emmons-Imagn Images

Brady had already pulled a Brett Favre by unretiring once to return to the Buccaneers, but returning a second time from retirement just didn't seem like a Brady thing to do.

If Brady were to come back, I highly doubt it would have been with either of his previous teams, the New England Patriots or the Bucs, so it is even interesting to think about what team would have had enough juice on their roster at the time that could have intrigued Brady to the point of even giving it a thought.

There is no doubt that Brady could have joined a team that had everything in place to make him successful, even at his age, and he likely would have at least gotten said team to the playoffs as he hunted down his eighth Super Bowl ring. Fortunately for the rest of the league, that thought of a return quickly vanished after Brady thought about how much time and effort it would take to once again perform at the highest of levels to go out and win.

The Miami Dolphins were once thought to be in on the Brady sweepstakes once he hit free agency before landing in Tampa Bay, so that would have been the easy guess for which team reached out to him to test the waters. While an easy guess, I don't believe that Miami had enough at the time to really lure Brady back out of retirement.

So, Buccaneers fans, who do we think was the mystery team that almost lured Brady back to the NFL?

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