Tom Brady Retires from the NFL, Won’t Be Leaving the Game

Posted on: February 2, 2023, 03:51h. 

Last updated on: February 2, 2023, 12:49h.

Erik Gibbs Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Gaming Business, Global Gaming.

A year ago, Tom Brady announced that he was retiring from the NFL. It wasn’t long before he recanted. But now, the long-time QB has retired again, much to the delight of some sports bettors.

QB Tom Brady waves to the crowd
Long-time NFL QB Tom Brady waves to the crowd. He announced his retirement from the game on Wednesday for the second time in two years. (Image: Getty Images)

Brady won six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots before heading to warmer weather with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Florida. There, he added another with his Super Bowl LV win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Now, after over 22 years in the NFL, the 45-year-old football GOAT is hanging up his cleats for good – maybe. Sportsbooks are already taking bets on whether he’ll unretire. But his upcoming gig as an announcer and analyst will likely prevail.

Odds Not Good for Another Comeback

At the beginning of last October, rumors about another Brady retirement began to get louder in light of the horrible season he was having. He wasn’t his former self, and the Bucs weren’t gaining the traction they expected.

As a result, sportsbooks were giving him odds of around -300 to retire after the season. As the team continued to underproduce, the odds shortened. By the end of October, he was at -500.

Although Tampa Bay made it to the postseason, they lost to the Dallas Cowboys in the wild-card round. That, coupled with off-field issues at home and in business, undoubtedly contributed to Brady’s decision to step away from the field.

https://twitter.com/TomBrady/status/1620772095889403905

Brady won’t be stepping away from football entirely, though, as he signed a deal last year with Fox Sports to be its lead analyst. With his experience and talent, he’s worth the $375M contract he secured.

There had always been speculation that Brady would unretire – his competitive spirit has him wrapped up, unable to break free. However, this time seems to be for real, and the oddsmakers think so as well.

BetOnline.ag has him at -2000 to not unretire; +900 to return. If he stays out through Week 1 of next season, the bet will clear.

Brady Exit Causes Shift in Super Bowl LVIII Odds

Super Bowl LVII isn’t even here yet, but some of the futures for Super Bowl LVIII in 2024 are already up. Brady’s retirement is causing oddsmakers to rethink their positions.

Before the announcement, there were rumors of Brady possibly going to the San Francisco 49ers or the Las Vegas Raiders. The Niners have Brock Purdy, who proved himself this season, but they could always use some extra help. His torn UCL likely has him out of commission for about six months.

The Raiders definitely would have scored a huge win if they had landed Brady. However, that’s obviously not going to happen, and the futures lines are changing. Las Vegas had odds of +5000 on the Raiders to win the Big Game, moving to +4000 when Brady was on the radar. Now, the line’s headed back down, and PointsBet has them at +6600.

A similar situation is found with San Francisco, although they were getting more optimism from the books. PointsBet has them at +700 right now, and this will almost definitely change today or tomorrow.

Brady is the GOAT for good reason. He’s the only NFL player with seven Super Bowl rings and five Super Bowl MVP titles. He also holds every passing recording, including TD passes, with 649, and regular-season passing yards, with 89,214. Added to that are his 251 regular-season victories, another NFL record. At 190, Brady also covered the spread in more regular-season games than any other QB in the Super Bowl era.

In addition, he goes out as fantasy football’s all-time leading scorer, having accumulated 5,944.36 points. With so much in his favor, now’s a good time to step away.