Bucs Gameday

Tom Brady announces date to officially join Fox Sports on massive ten-year deal

Tom Brady announces his plans to begin broadcasting NFL games for FOX.

Collin Haalboom

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Back in May of 2022, Buccaneers' quarterback, Tom Brady, signed an unprecedented contract. It was a 10-year, $375m deal to become the next in-game TV analyst for FOX.

READ MORE: CBS Sports Projects Buccaneers to trade up for Tom Brady's replacement in 2023 NFL Draft

The deal seemed to come out of nowhere, and was a surprising announcement to many, primarily because it came just two months after Brady had announced he was un-retiring in order to rejoin the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as their quarterback. 

Details began to emerge, stating that FOX was comfortable with Brady's decision to play football, and the position would be waiting for him once he decided to retire 'for real'. 

Now that Brady has officially retired, many have been wondering what will be next for the most accomplished quarterback ever to play in the National Football League. 

Will he begin his broadcasting career immediately, and cover this year's Super Bowl for FOX? Will he wait until the start of the 2023 season? Will he even pursue this? 

Well, we finally have an answer. According to Brady himself, his debut as a FOX broadcaster is set for the start of the 2024 NFL season. 

"You're on this really crazy treadmill/hamster wheel for a long time, loving the moment, loving the journey. At the same time, it's a daily fight, and I have appreciation for so many people who are so committed every day to showing up, to putting their max effort into their life and their career," Brady said. "And I think for me, I want to be great at what I do. Even talking last week with the people at Fox Sports and the leadership there allowing me to start my Fox opportunity in the fall of 2024 is something that's great for me. 

READ MORE: Tom Brady's father has an interesting reaction to his son walking away from football after 23 years

"Take some time to really learn, become great at what I want to do, become great at thinking about the opportunity and making sure I don't rush into anything. I think when people really bet on me, one thing about my career whether that's was when I was drafted by the Patriots or signing in free agency with the Bucs, I wanted to be fully committed and I never wanted to let people down," Brady continued. "I think my biggest motivator was that. Even in the future I want to be great at what I do and that always takes some time and strategizing and learning and growing and evolving. I have so many people to rely on that can support me in that growth too. It's going to be a great opportunity for me to take some time to really certainly become [great] at my Fox broadcasting job which I'm really looking forward to but also catching up on other parts of my life that need some time and energy."

It's a good thing that Tom Brady has decided to take some time to focus on his family, and spend time with his children. 

From a broadcasting perspective, many have questioned whether Brady has the right personality for the job. Not to mention, the emergence of Greg Olsen as a sharp, insightful, and charismatic analyst — forming FOX's lead in-game broadcast team alongside Kevin Burkhardt — has put FOX in a bit of a conundrum.

Despite Olsen's excellent performance since entering the broadcast booth though, the chances of FOX deciding to keep him as a part of their lead broadcast team — which would relegate Brady to another time slot — is not a realistic possibility. Not when FOX has already committed to pay Brady over $37 million per year once he's ready to enter the booth. 

Not only will this additional year off provide Tom Brady with some extra time with his family, it will also provide Greg Olsen the opportunity to further market himself to audiences, as well as his employer, FOX, who will certainly be required to raise his salary if they hope to keep him around beyond that.

But don't expect him to make anything close to Tom Brady, who is going to have some big shoes to fill. Not to mention, plenty of eyes and ears watching, many of whom will be hoping to see him fail. 

Stick with BucsGameday for more coverage of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throughout the 2023 offseason.

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Collin Haalboom
COLLIN HAALBOOM

Prior to joining BucsGameday and Sports Illustrated, Collin's written content was provided through Bucs Banter, and NFL Draft Lounge. He is also the creator and host of the Bucs Banter Podcast. He is a graduate of the Communication Studies program at McMaster University, where he was also a varsity basketball player, and later an advanced scout. He lives with his wife and two children in Hamilton, ON. You can follow Collin on YouTube and Twitter.