Tom Brady’s Return Alters Tampa Bay’s Future Bets

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers saw their odds for Super Bowl LVII improve dramatically late last Sunday when Tom Brady announced via social media that he would indeed return for the 2022 NFL season. The 44-year-old quarterback left the Bucs with a significant void under center when he retired following the 2021 season, but his comeback quickly put Tampa Bay among the favorites for next season. 

Brady took to Twitter, during the eve of NFL free agency opening for negotiations, saying he realized his place was still “on the field and not in the stands.” Brady cited “unfinished business” among the reasons for his return. 

Brady’s “Unfinished Business”

Tom Brady finished the 2021 season as the NFL leader in completions (485), passing attempts (719), passing yards (5,315), and touchdowns (43). The 44-year-old finished second in the MVP voting, but the team fell short in the postseason. The Bucs lost at home in the divisional round to the eventual Super Bowl champions, the Los Angeles Rams. 

Over his 22 seasons, Brady’s dominated the league to the tune of seven Super Bowl titles and so many records. He retired as the winningest quarterback in NFL history and the career leader in completions (7,263), passing yards (84,520) and touchdowns (624), among other statistics. 

Brady’s the only player in NFL history to win more than five Super Bowls and holds the record for most Super Bowl MVPs (5). He won league MVP three times and earned an All-Pro first-team berth three times. Brady has a record 15 Pro Bowl selections. 

Coming back for the 2022 season puts Brady in line for another Super Bowl victory in an odd-number year. Brady’s last four championships have come in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021. Super Bowl LVII is scheduled to be played on February 12, 2023, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Brady will be 45 years old in August, and once he starts a game, he’ll be the oldest starting quarterback in NFL history. At 44 years, nine months, and six days, Steve DeBerg currently is the oldest quarterback to start an NFL game, doing so in 1998. DeBerg’s also holds the distinction of being the oldest player on a Super Bowl roster (45 years, 12 days). 

Brady Bumps Bucs Futures Odds

The market for NFL Futures Bets stands as one of the most popular betting types these days. Futures bets allow fans to speculate on their favorite teams and players while offering larger payouts than most single-game wagers. 

For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the futures odds stood among the longest in the league following Brady’s retirement some 40 days ago. The Bucs quarterback situation looked dire, with only the likes of Blaine Gabbert and Kyle Trask on the roster. But Brady’s return changed all that. 

On FoxBet, the Bucs saw their Super Bowl futures odds go from +2800 to +750. That marked Tampa Bay with the second-best odds, trailing only the Buffalo Bills (+700) for that sportsbook. The other teams in FoxBet’s top-five futures bets were the Green Bay Packers (+750), the Kansas City Chiefs (+850), and the Los Angeles Rams (+1200). 

At the SI Sportsbook, Tampa Bay jumped to +800 odds for the Super Bowl. Those futures odds leads all NFC teams and trails only the Chiefs (+650) and Bills (+700. The defending champion LA Rams sport +900 odds, and the Packers are at +1000. The Bucs were +2000 at the SI Sportsbook prior to Brady’s return. 

At the Caesars Sportsbook, Tampa Bay has gone from +2000 to win Super Bowl LVII to +1000. The Bucs’ NFC championship futures odds went from +1000 to +375. At PointsBet, the Bucs saw similar movement, going from +1900 to +1000 for the Super Bowl and +1000 to +550 at for the NFC title. 

The Bucs’ 2022 schedule remains daunting, with dates against Green Bay, Kansas City, Cincinnati, and the LA Rams. Tampa Bay also has roster concerns to address, with the pending free agency of star players like Rob Gronkowski and Leonard Fournette, among others.