Barrett, Gronkowski agree to deals to stay with Buccaneers
Linebacker Shaquil Barrett and tight end Rob Gronkowski, who came out of retirement 11 months ago to help Brady win No. 7 in his first season with the Bucs, are the latest players to agree to terms to stay with the team. Agent Drew Rosenhaus represents both players and confirmed the deals to The Associated Press on Monday. He signed a one-year, $4 million deal with Tampa Bay in free agency in 2019 and has 27½ sacks in 31 regular-season games since joining the Bucs. Gronkowski played nine seasons with Brady in New England before retiring after the 2018 season.
Nobody comes for free in NFL free agency that begins Monday
Regardless, on Monday, two days before the NFL's 2021 business year begins, the 32 teams and agents for the players will be making deals. “Legal tampering, and tampering is illegal? AdOf course, free agency always is a buyer-beware situation. AdVoila: Lavonte David, a key linebacker, was re-signed, and several other key guys in the title run could be back. “We do have some money from a cap standpoint that we can spend; but again, it’s an interesting year.
Brady signs extension, frees salary cap space for Buccaneers
FILE - Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady leaves the field an NFL divisional round playoff football game against the New Orleans Saints in New Orleans, in this Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021, file photo. om Brady has agreed to a contract extension with the Buccaneers that provides the Super Bowl champions with much-needed salary cap relief and will help the seven-time NFL champion reach a goal of playing until hes at least 45. (AP Photo/Brett Duke, File)TAMPA, Fla. – Tom Brady has agreed to a contract extension with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that provides the Super Bowl champions with much-needed salary cap relief and will help the seven-time NFL champion reach a goal of playing until he’s at least 45. The five-time Super Bowl MVP capped his first season with the Bucs by leading Tampa Bay to its first championship in 18 years. David’s contract, of which $20 million is guaranteed, includes voidable years that make it salary cap friendly.
A look back at the Bucs’ impressive run to Super Bowl title
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) holds the Vince Lombardi trophy following the NFL Super Bowl 55 football game against the Kansas City Chiefs in Tampa. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' run from the wild card to Super Bowl champions was a remarkable one. BRADY BUNCH: Brady’s seventh title and first in Tampa Bay helped a whole new set of his teammates win a Super Bowl ring. AdThere have now been 261 players who have appeared in a Super Bowl as Brady’s teammate. Of the 728 players to play in a Super Bowl win since the 2001 season, 207 of them (28.4%) did it as Brady’s teammate.
Bucs hope to keep core together to chase another Super Bowl
The Buccaneers defeated the Chiefs 31-9 to win the Super Bowl. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are already thinking about what it’ll take to repeat as Super Bowl champions. If Brady, Arians and general manager Jason Licht have their way, Gronkowski, Brown and Fournette won’t wind up being one-season rentals. “Hopefully we can keep the band together, have an offseason and actually know what we’re doing (entering next season),” Arians said. It changed our entire football team.”AdBrady said Arians, who also has two Super Bowl rings as an assistant coach, deserves credit, too.
Analysis: Credit or blame Brady for all things Super Bowl
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady shouts after running on to the field before the NFL Super Bowl 55 football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. Credit Tom Brady. Still, this is not the vintage Brady who was so responsible for those nine Super Bowl trips and six victories in New England. So blame Brady for getting old. Guess you can blame Brady for that, as well.
New normal: Brady gets 7th trophy in a season to remember
History was made, just as it always is, on a picture-perfect Sunday evening at the Super Bowl. Brady adding to his record with a seventh Super Bowl title, but with the long-suffering Bucs, not the front-running New England Patriots? That the Chiefs waded through all that to make it back to the Super Bowl was not all that big a surprise. Brady earned his fifth Super Bowl MVP award. It was, as much as anything, a nod to the new normal — life with coronavirus — meshing with the old normal — Tom Brady holding a Super Bowl trophy.
Gronk, AB, Fournette team up for Super Bowl TDs, Bucs top KC
Brady wound up with his seventh NFL championship and was the Super Bowl MVP for the fifth time. “All week he made us believe we were going to win,” Fournette said. “He was amazing and just did it all: blocked, ran, just had an incredible season,” Brady said. Brady's seventh Super Bowl triumph broke a tie he held with three members of Vince Lombardi's great Green Bay Packers teams of the 1960s for most NFL championships. "There's nothing that he can't do: new team, new scheme, first year with a new team and going to the Super Bowl and winning it all.
Brady, improved defense keys to Bucs winning Super Bowl
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady during NFL football practice, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021 in Tampa, Fla. The Buccaneers will face the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 55. (Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers via AP)TAMPA, Fla. – Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won’t be denied. The 43-year-old six-time Super Bowl champion may no longer be the best quarterback in the NFL, however, he’s shown in his first season with the Bucs that he’s still good enough to lead a team to the NFL title game. You want to make some moves that hopefully get your team into the Super Bowl.
Chiefs' success big reason why fans will be at Super Bowl
(AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann, File)There will be about 25,000 fans inside Raymond James Stadium for the Super Bowl on Sunday. Even when COVID-19 numbers were spiking around the country, the Chiefs never experienced an outbreak traced back to their fans. AdThursday marked the final time talking to the media for the Bucs and Chiefs until after the Super Bowl. BRADY’S PORTUGUESETom Brady's six Super Bowl rings don't protect him from being trash talked in his own home. The fact that it will happen in the Super Bowl?
Fournette, Bell go from lots of losing to Super Bowl
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back doesn't remember writing the prophetic Twitter post seven years ago, but someone unearthed it last week and sent social media buzzing. “Can’t wait til I play in that Super Bowl,” Fournette wrote on Feb. 2, 2014 — punctuating it with a grin emoji. And consider where he could've been: with the 1-15 Jaguars and as far from the Super Bowl as you can get. Ad“Once he accepted that, he's been just a trooper, man," Buccaneers running backs coach Todd McNair said. I’ve watched every Super Bowl since I was little kid, as long as I remember, always envisioning that I would be in the game.
Super Bowl could be farewell for several pending free agents
Kansas City and Tampa Bay have several starters, including some notable pass catchers, scheduled to become free agents next month. So the Super Bowl between the Chiefs and Buccaneers will serve as a farewell for several players with their current team. Brown signed a one-year, $1.6 million contract with Tampa in late October and has been a model citizen since. He has 45 receptions for 623 yards and seven touchdowns after signing a one-year, $9 million deal. He turned 34 last month and might be willing to sign another one-year deal to stay in Tampa.
Brady, productive drafts fuel Tampa Bay's run to Super Bowl
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) runs with a elastic band around his legs during an NFL football workout Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. The Buccaneers play the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV on Feb. 7. 1 overall pick Jameis Winston but dared to dream of signing Brady if the six-time Super Bowl champion decided to leave New England as a free agent. Of course it was Tom Brady, not thinking he would become a free agent,” Arians added. Ad“Naturally, I think you envision every year in the offseason you want to make some moves that hopefully get your team into the Super Bowl.
Retirement age? Super Bowl coaches just getting started
Theres no retirement age in the NFL, and thats a good thing for Super Bowl-bound Kansas City and Tampa Bay. (AP Photo/File)There’s no retirement age in the NFL, and that’s a good thing for Super Bowl-bound Kansas City and Tampa Bay. The Bucs signed Brady, now 43, to a two-year contract that created a small Super Bowl window. Now, the Bucs get to face Kansas City at home — the first team in NFL history to play a Super Bowl in its normal venue. New England’s Bill Belichick is the oldest coach to win a Super Bowl.
NFC Matchups: Where else to start but Brady and Rodgers?
But Gronk in particular has always been a big-play guy in big games for Brady, and Green Bay doesn't have linebackers who excel in coverage. Green Bay will do some blitzing, though not as much as Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles figures to do. Unlike Brady, Rodgers can create outside the pocket, and he's especially dangerous when doing so. Veteran placekicker Mason Crosby is solid, making all 16 field goal attempts, but missed four PATs for Green Bay. Tampa Bay's Ryan Succop, now in his 12th pro season, made 28 of 31 field goal tries but missed five extra points.
All eyes on QBs as Packers host Bucs for NFC championship
The Packers defeated the Rams 32-18 to advance to the NFC championship game. When Rodgers’ Green Bay Packers (14-3) host Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers (13-5) in the NFC championship game Sunday, it will be just the fourth time they’ve squared off as starting quarterbacks, and first in the playoffs. “I’m excited about the opportunity to play against him one more time.”The Bucs trounced the Packers 38-10 in Tampa on Oct. 18. A win at Lambeau Field clinches their first Super Bowl berth since their 2002 championship season. “We play the Packers in the NFC championship game.
Brady, talented Buccaneers playmakers developing chemistry
Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans (13) celebrates his touchdown against the New Orleans Saints during the first half of an NFL divisional round playoff football game, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021, in New Orleans. Don't forget Antonio Brown, who joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at midseason and has contributed to the team’s run to Sunday’s NFC championship game at Green Bay. Then there’s Scotty Miller and Tyler Johnson, a couple of late-round draft picks roughly half the age of the 43-year-old quarterback. The more that I’ve been around Mike, Chris, Antonio, Scooter (Miller), Tyler, Mick (Jaydon Mickens) — the better it gets,” Brady said. Tyler makes a great catch,” Arians added.
Brady, Bucs, end playoffs for Saints, Brees, 30-20
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) works against the New Orleans Saints during the first half of an NFL divisional round playoff football game, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021, in New Orleans. Brady and the Bucs' offense turned three of four Saints turnovers into touchdowns and Tampa Bay beat New Orleans 30-20 in the divisional round of the playoffs Sunday night. Brees’ 16-yard pass to Tre-Quan Smith put the Saints ahead 20-13, and New Orleans appeared primed to build on that lead when Brees found Jared Cook across the 50. WINSTON'S MOMENTJameis Winston, forced out of Tampa Bay when Brady became available, threw a 56-yard touchdown pass against his old team on a trick play. Saints: Deonte Harris, who returned the first Tampa Bay punt 54 yards to set up a field goal, left with a neck injury in the first half.
Bucs, Browns, Bills out to follow footsteps of champ Chiefs
Aside from winning the final Super Bowl before the merger in 1970, the Kansas City Chiefs’ biggest claim to fame for over half a century was team founder Lamar Hunt coining the phrase Super Bowl. Three long-downtrodden teams — the Browns, Bills and Buccaneers — have made it to the divisional round this weekend and are certain they have as good a chance as the Chiefs, Packers, Saints, Ravens or Rams of winning Super Bowl 55. That’s heady stuff for a franchise that has never made it to the Super Bowl. I think Bills fans, including myself, didn’t think he was going to be this good this good this early. And he has proved a lot of people wrong.”No, there’s no comparing this Bills team to those of his playing days, Thomas said.
Rodgers leads Pack to top of NFC after draft disappointment
(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)The NFC playoff field features the usual cast of quarterbacks in Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Russell Wilson. Last Lombardi: Super Bowl 45, 31-25 over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Feb. 6, 2011, at Arlington, Texas. Last Lombardi: Super Bowl 48, 43-8 over the Denver Broncos on Feb. 2, 2014, at East Rutherford, N.J. Last year: No. The Bears’ leading tackler left in the first quarter of the Green Bay game with an elbow injury. DBs Buster Skrine, rookie Jaylon Johnson and Deon Bush missed the loss to Green Bay.
Tom Brady excited, ready to lead Buccaneers into playoffs
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) throws a pass during an NFL football practice Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)TAMPA, Fla. – New team, same ole Tom Brady. Brady led New England to the Super Bowl nine times in 20 seasons, appearing in 41 playoff games and winning 30 — both records. “When he first signed I said, ‘OK, we’ll be a 40 (touchdown) and 10 (interception) team,’” Arians said. “It’s a never-ending thing with him, the perfectionist, to get everything right in practice,” Arians added.