It has been a few weeks since star quarterback Tom Brady decided to leave the New England Patriots after two decades. Brady’s move still hasn’t sunk in for many as it was hard to imagine him choosing to depart from New England after the historic level of success he has had with the franchise throughout his sure-fire Hall of Fame career. However, it was the first time that Brady tested the free-agent market, and took full advantage of the situation. It’s a decision that he has finally voiced why he felt it was time to leave the Patriots.

Tom Brady leaves the Patriots for Bucs

Over the last several months, there had been a lingering conversation that Brady’s long-term future with the Patriots was uncertain beyond the 2020 season.

The 42-year-old had described what laid in front of him in New England as up in the air with no dialogue concerning what was after Super Bowl 54. Brady has taken the approach in year’s past, but his brief discussions in various interviews about his long-term future in New England had the vibe of uncertainty that had never been there before.

That came to fruition this offseason as there was no fluid discussions toward a new contract between both sides. Instead, things quickly fell into place days ahead of free agency with Brady informing the Patriots he was leaving them.

Shortly after that, Brady made the chose decision to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a fully guaranteed two-year, $50 million deal. It’s a move that he hasn’t quite dived deep into his reasoning, but that has changed.

Tom Brady’s reasoning for leaving the Patriots

Although the writing had been on the wall that Brady would be leaving the Patriots, it wasn’t a move that many banked on until it transpired.

Now that it’s become official, it has shifted the discussion as to why he decided to leave New England at this point in his career. There are many speculated reasons as to why he went this route, but in a piece that the six-time Super Bowl champion wrote for The Players’ Tribune, he voiced that he still has things to prove to himself.

“Right now, though, I have things to prove to myself. The only way is through. If I don’t go for it, I’ll never know what I could have accomplished. Wanting to do something is different from actually doing it. If I stood at the bottom of a mountain, and told myself I could scale the highest peak, but then didn’t do anything about it, what’s the point of that?”

There are many skeptics around what Brady can accomplish in his 21st season, especially that he’s playing for another team for the first time in his career. He’s well into his 40s and experienced plenty of struggles in the 2019 season that would lead many to believe he could see a further decline in his play.

All of that has only provided more fuel to the fire for Brady to prove he has plenty left in the tank to perform at a high level. It’s a challenge that he’s never faced in his career now that he’s outside the umbrella of the Patriots. Brady has that opportunity to showcase that he can still be the driving force of a team while leading them to a Super Bowl.

What to expect from Tom Brady in the 2020 season

Brady is heading into a situation that will take plenty of adjustments for him in his new home in the NFL.

He will have the challenges of learning a new playbook while building chemistry with his teammates. Beyond that, Brady is joining an already tough division that includes Drew Brees and the New Orleans. There rest of the division in the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers are looking to bounce back from disappointing 2019 campaigns.

The 42-year-old had his struggles last year, but the Buccaneers have plenty of promising talent offensively at the skilled positions such as Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Cameron Brate, and O.J. Howard. Meanwhile, their defense had some strong, encouraging play last season. More than anything else, Brady’s move brings much more excitement for the 2020 season.