On the same day the Atlanta Falcons brought Todd Gurley back to Georgia, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made the legendary Tom Brady their new quarterback.
The Falcons’ NFC South rival made the official announcement Friday morning.
The deal is for two years at $50 million.
Brady stunned the NFL on Tuesday morning when he posted a social media goodbye to the New England Patriots, his one and only team for the last 20 seasons. Rumors began circulating almost immediately that Tampa Bay was the favored landing spot for Brady.
»MORE: Atlanta Falcons sign Todd Gurley: report
Brady has been the enduring face of the Patriots during a run that added another layer to Boston’s already-rich sports history. Only Bill Russell, who won 11 NBA championship rings in the 1950s and 1960s with the Celtics, has won more titles as a member of one of New England’s four major professional sports teams.
Brady will be the oldest starting quarterback in the league at 43 at the beginning of next season. He is also arguably coming off his worst non-injury season. He threw for 4,057 yards and 24 touchdowns in 2019, with eight interceptions. But he completed fewer than 56% of his passes six times in the final eight games of the year, including a season-ending loss to Miami that cost the Patriots a first-round playoff bye.
Brady had a one-year contract for 2019 that paid him $23 million, placing him 10th among starting quarterbacks. It was the latest renegotiation by Brady to help give the Patriots salary cap flexibility to fill out the roster.
Brady and Gurley immediately become two of the newest faces to join the NFC South, a division that already boasts such Pro Bowl names as Matt Ryan, Drew Brees, Julio Jones, Alvin Kamara and Christian McCaffrey.
Earlier this week, the Carolina Panthers signed former New Orleans Saints player Teddy Bridgewater as their starting quarterback, replacing the oft-injured Cam Newton.
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