Fantasy Football Impact: Tom Brady Unretires

Tom Brady declares he's coming back for the 2022 season as quarterback of the Buccaneers which is great for fantasy football players.

Well, that didn’t last long.

Tom Brady has decided not to retire after all and will instead return to the gridiron. As he wrote on his social media platforms on Sunday evening, “I’m coming back for my 23rd season in Tampa. Unfinished business LFG.” That has fantasy fans smiling.

The implications are simple. Brady, who threw for a league-high 5,316 yards with 43 touchdowns and finished as the No. 3 quarterback based on fantasy points, will be a Top-8 option at the position entering his age 45 season (that’s still incredible to write).

His return also makes it a lot safer to choose Buccaneers wide receivers Chris Godwin and Mike Evans in drafts. Godwin, coming off a torn ACL, will be a borderline No. 1 while Evans is a solid No. 2 in an offense that won't have Antonio Brown in the mix.

Brady’s return could also impact the decisions of free-agents-to-be Leonard Fournette and Rob Gronkowski, who might be more likely to remain in Tampa with the G.O.A.T. The Bucs still have a lot of work to do with their cap situation, so stay tuned on that.

This also takes the Buccaneers out of the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes and the free-agent or trade markets for a starting quarterback. Instead, I’d expect them to re-sign Blaine Gabbert as a backup. Brady being back makes our fantasy lives much better.

Michael Fabiano is an award-winning fantasy football analyst on Sports Illustrated and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) Hall of Fame. Click here to read all his articles here on SI Fantasy. You can follow Michael on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram for your late breaking fantasy news and the best analysis in the business!