Tom Brady Reportedly Called One Teammate Before Announcing His Return To The Bucs

• Tom Brady reportedly called one teammate before announcing he was coming out of retirement.
• Before revealing he would be playing for the Buccaneers again, he checked in with a teammate who was a free agent.
• Read more news about Tom Brady here.

Before announcing he was coming out of retirement (after 40 days), Tom Brady reportedly wanted to talk to one teammate before he confirmed his decision and made it public on Sunday.

It also turns out that as a result of that call, the timing of Tom Brady’s announcement may not have been completely random. It’s also no coincidence that NFL free agency began on Monday morning.

Sunday night, Buccaneers center Ryan Jensen agreed to a new three-year deal with Tampa Bay worth $39 million.

Jensen was the guy who Brady reportedly contacted before announcing his return for one more year.

According to ESPN’s Jenna Laine, Jensen also made his decision to return to the Buccaneers after he knew about Brady’s decision.

Related: Tom Brady’s Ex Bridget Moynahan Had A Great Reaction To Him Coming Out Of Retirement

“I’m gonna give you an example of how Brady has already gotten to work on trying to keep this roster intact,” Laine said Monday morning on SportsCenter. “Free agency kicks off today with the legal tampering period and before Brady even made his announcement to the world, I’m told he got on the phone and he called his center, Ryan Jensen. He was set to become an unrestricted free agent. He told Ryan, ‘I’m coming back,’ and because of that, Jensen was able to strike a new deal with the Bucs late last night for three years.

“They were able to get him at a pretty good rate, about $13 million per year. He was expected to command about $15 million on the open market because there are teams out there, like the Cincinnati Bengals, that have a dire need at offensive linemen. He certainly would have been a great candidate for that. Instead, Brady gets him back and I know that he’s going to work on trying to get some of these other guys back, too.”

Tom Brady reportedly contacted a free agent teammate who then re-signed with the Bucs

Brady’s announcement may also have influenced another Buccaneers teammate to change his plans for the 2022 NFL season.

Last week, running back Leonard Fournette published an Instagram post which made it sound like he was done in Tampa. On Monday, that Instagram post was gone.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht, on the other hand, didn’t seem too surprised by Tom Brady’s announcement.

“We are thrilled that Tom decided to come back this season,” Licht wrote in a statement. “We said we would leave all options open for him should he reconsider his retirement and today’s announcement is something we have been preparing for in recent days. Bruce (Arians) and I have had plenty of conversations with Tom recently that led us to believe there was a realistic chance he would want to come back.”

Who didn’t think “there was a realistic chance he would want to come back”?