All Signs Point Towards Buccaneers 'Going All In' on Tom Brady

Another report on Wednesday shows yet another sign that Tampa Bay is intent on getting Tom Brady in a Buccaneers uniform in 2020.

It all started at the NFL Combine with Bruce Arians. When asked by Greg Auman of The Athletic who's an example of a quarterback Arians would pick up the phone for to gauge their interest in joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he said Tom Brady. 

Earlier this week, ESPN's Dianna Russini said that Tampa Bay "would love" to have Brady as their quarterback, and would give him everything "he needs, wants." 

Now, a Buccaneers insider has doubled-down on the reported interest in Brady that is coming out of Tampa Bay.

"If we reach the legal free-agent tampering period Monday at noon and Brady is behind Door No. 2, Bruce Arians and the Glazer family will try to kick that sucker down for Touchdown Tommy," Tampa Bay Tribune reporter Rick Stroud wrote on Wednesday. "This is not hype. It’s hope. This is fact, not fantasy. This is the plan. This is the Bucs’ play.

"At high noon, the legal free agency tampering period will commence and Brady’s agent, Donald Yee, will have the Bucs on call waiting."

With less than a week to go before the legal tampering period begins, there seems to be only one team that has a strong desire to coax Tom Brady away from New England: the Buccaneers. A week ago it seemed like the Titans were in that conversation as well, but unless contract negotiations fall through with Ryan Tannehill, or if they don't franchise tag him, Tennessee seems intent on making Tannehill their starting QB moving forward. The Raiders and Chargers have also been rumored to be interested in Brady's services, but they can't offer the same things Bill Belichick and Arians can. 

If the Brady sweepstakes comes down to a head-to-head matchup between the Buccaneers and Patriots, a strong case can be made that Tampa Bay can win that fight. With $84 million in available cap space, an explosive offense that has Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, O.J. Howard, Cameron Brate and Ronald Jones, and Arians as their head coach, the Buccaneers are a good QB away from competing for a championship. Package that together with warm weather, no taxes and a sizable contract for the 42-year-old QB, and there is a lot the Buccaneers can offer Brady that New England can't. 

Because of that, it will take some hardcore assurances from Belichick to convince Brady to stick around while the Patriots try to acquire offensive talent via free agency and the draft. But it's hard to believe that will be enough. 

As Russini and others have reported in the past, Brady also wants a say in roster and play-calling decisions going forward with any team that he signs with. If a team like the Buccaneers wants to sign Brady, then they must already have a plan in place for Brady to be able to have a say in those decisions. As for New England - who is run by one of the greatest head coaches of all-time - are they ready to let Brady have a say in how things are run? That remains to be seen. 

We are now down to a matter of days before Brady hits free agency for the first time in his two-decade career. And it looks more clear now than ever that there is at least one team ready to make one helluva pitch to the greatest quarterback of all-time. Unfortunately for New England fans, it's not the Patriots.