Tom Brady’s Biggest Challenge With the Buccaneers
It has been a few months since Tom Brady decided to end his tenure with the New England Patriots after two decades. Brady is now embarking a new chapter of his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That has put him in an entirely new situation that will bring forth challenges that he has never faced before in his Hall of Fame career. Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich has singled out what he believes may be the biggest hurdle for Brady to overcome.
Tom Brady’s new chapter with Buccaneers
The writing had been on the wall over the last several months that Tom Brady may leave the Patriots.
All of that came to fruition in the days leading to free agency as he informed the franchise that he would be testing the free-agent market. The Buccaneers took the driver’s seat in the pursuit of the star quarterback by quickly hammering a two-year, $50 million deal.
That has put Brady in the NFC for the first time in his career while giving him the chance to prove that he can continue to experience tremendous success away from the Patriots and head coach Bill Belichick. However, there is another challenge that may prove to be his biggest obstacle.
Tom Brady’s biggest challenge with Buccaneers
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The decision to join the Buccaneers has put Tom Brady in new surroundings as he heads into his 21st season.
That has shaken the entire landscape for him to start from scratch ahead of the 2020 campaign. Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich voiced on Tuesday that he believes that changing from playing for another team after 20 years with the Patriots will be a massive challenge for Brady to work through. (H/T Kyle Wood of the Tampa Bay Times)
“I think the greatest challenge is this: He’s been somewhere for 20 years. You guys know, some of you may have worked at the same job for 20 years. And you’ve done something for 20 years in one spot and there’s change, it’s automatically different. It doesn’t matter if it’s for better or for worse, it’s just different. And I try to communicate with him. I want him to just talk football. I know you’ve been saying things a certain way for so long. . . . So it’s not a play that he hasn’t heard of. It’s not a play that he hasn’t ran. Now we just got to figure out what he does well and make sure we run a lot more of those plays on Sunday than not.”
It’s beyond a culture change for Brady as he continues to get used to his new situation. That goes further than learning a new playbook as he needs to build on-field chemistry with his new teammates while getting a stronger feel for what will work best for him at this stage of his career.
What to expect from Tom Brady with Buccaneers
Regardless of the transition period that Tom Brady will need with the Buccaneers, the expectations have grown high with the franchise in 2020.
Brady is joining a relatively competitive team, and his addition brings forth much-needed stability at the quarterback position that they didn’t have with Jameis Winston. Brady will be joined with former longtime teammate Rob Gronkowski while having a pair of Pro Bowl wide receivers in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.
It will be tough to navigate through the NFC South that includes tough competition in the New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers, and Atlanta Falcons. Tampa Bay will have their path toward the playoffs, a journey that will have plenty of attention along the way. It’s hard to predict a Super Bowl push at this point, but those expectations could be on the horizon.
