Tom Brady Mulling Retirement?

It's hard to know if Tom Brady will play next season, mostly because not even Brady himself seems to know.

Per ESPN's Jeff Darlington and Adam Schefter, Brady has yet to commit to playing in the fall of 2022, and his Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaches and players know it.

Yes, Brady has talked about playing past the age of 45. (He is 44 now.) But that is far from a given, Darlington and Schefter reported.

"Brady's departure is a topic that quietly has come up within the Tampa Bay organization for weeks now, and there has been internal uncertainty about what the future holds for the seven-time Super Bowl champion and all-time NFL passing leader," the report read.

It appears Brady will take some time off after the season, assess how he feels physically, and then determine his next steps. So we may not know his intentions for a little bit.

While this may not be a shocker, the NFL will seem like a strange place without the greatest QB of the modern era. But yes, it will have to face that reality eventually. Brady of course is still extremely good, and the Buccaneers' best chance at winning big.

Still, the day is near when he's either in a broadcast booth or just an NFL rocking chair. From the sounds of things, it's still very much up in the air.

"At times throughout this season, Brady has felt committed to returning in 2022 regardless of the outcome, simply because he feels he owes it to an organization that doesn't have a clear quarterback succession plan," Darlington and Schefter wrote. "But with a long 2021 season nearing its conclusion, Brady now plans to enter the offseason wide open about his future."