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Report: Tom Brady mulled his options with multiple teams outside of the Buccaneers before retiring

Brady was considering his options with multiple other clubs before ultimately retiring.

It's obvious that stepping away from the game of football was no easy task for Tom Brady. That's probably why it took two separate retirements for everyone that pays attention to the NFL, and maybe even Brady himself, to believe that he was finally hanging up the cleats for good.

READ MORE: Tom Brady Officially Announces Retirement from the NFL

Regardless, it's become clear since his announcement on Wednesday that this was an extremely tough choice for Brady. So much so that he was still considering his options outside of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with multiple other clubs before ultimately putting his foot down and retiring.

According to ESPN's Jeff Darlington, Brady mulled his options with a variety of NFL teams including the San Francisco 49ers, Las Vegas Raiders, and Miami Dolphins. Brady has previously been linked to all three franchises through a multitude of avenues.

Darlington went on to report that a return to New England was suggested to Brady and it was promptly shut down, "no, that ain't happening."

That's not much of a surprise as it seemed like there was a disconnect between Brady and Bill Belichick towards the end of his tenure with the Patriots. It may seem like a shot at New England on paper but I doubt that's what was intended. Simply put, the franchise isn't in a position to legitimately contend for a championship in 2023-24, which likely would've been Brady's last run no matter what if he chose not to retire.

Brady grew up rooting for San Francisco while living on the west coast, he had clear ties to Las Vegas with former offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels as head coach, and Miami was previously fined for having impermissible contact with him. It says a lot that despite all of these options on the table, he chose to retire anyway. 

That's another reason that it feels like Brady is gone for good this time.

Tampa Bay is being thrown into a bit of a flux as it searches for a new signal-caller. It's going to be interesting to see what direction the Buccaneers go whether that's rolling with Kyle Trask, exploring the trade market, searching for a free agent, or selection a new signal-caller in the upcoming draft.

Stick with BucsGameday for more coverage of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throughout the 2023 offseason.

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