Are Bucs Dark-Horse Landing Spot for Tom Brady?

Tom Brady, arguably the best quarterback in NFL history, is set to become an unrestricted free agent when the new league year kicks off in March.

If he indeed hits the open market, there will be no shortage of teams trying to convince him to head elsewhere instead of returning to the New England Patriots, the only team the future Hall of Famer has ever known.

Could the Tampa Bay Buccaneers be a dark-horse candidate to land Brady? Peter King of NBC Sports believes so, as he told WEEI's Dale and Keefe on Thursday:

King began his comments by admitting Jameis Winston's status will have much to do with whether or not Brady would end up in Tampa Bay:

The one that I believe is the sleeping giant in this is Tampa Bay, And when I say that, if Jameis Winston is realistic with what his contract demands/requests, whatever are, in my opinion he will be the quarterback of the Bucs next year. But, I don't know that. I am hearing some things out of Tampa that he might be, and his agents might want a little bit more money than the Bucs want to pay. And we'll see if that pans out. We'll definitely see.

King points out that Tampa Bay has both the supporting cast on offense, and the kind of coaching prowess to convince Brady to consider playing for the Bucs:

Look, they have a pretty good offensive line and they've got two excellent receivers. They've got a really good young tight end, and they have a very imaginative head coach and offensive coordinator in the passing game. I can't tell you absolutely what they would do or what they are going to do, but I can tell you that they are fascinating to me because Bruce Arians isn't coaching forever. I think he is one of those guys that all quarterbacks say, 'Man, it would be cool to work for Bruce Arians' because he's such a fun offensive mind.

The Bucs have struggled to fill their stadium in recent years, thanks for a long playoff drought, and King points out that adding Brady would be a major draw to any team:

Hey, look, everybody can say, 'No, not that team. No, not this team.' But, we're talking about Tom Brady and we're talking about a guy who obviously once he comes to your team does so much for it, including sells tickets like no other person in this free agent market is going to be. So, I guess I look at it and say when I think of Tampa Bay and Tom Brady, it makes as much sense to me as any of these other teams out here with the possible exception of the Chargers.

Common sense says Brady will end up back in New England until his career comes to an end, but King makes some solid points about why the Bucs could make as strong of a case as any other team to bring him to town.

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