Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is already known as the greatest of all time (GOAT), but his status is even highlighted by simple statistics put out by CBS Sports recently. Based on a tweet by CBS Sports, Luke Easterling of USA Today reported that the soon-to-be 45-year-old Brady’s career touchdown passes surpassed all of the combined output of 14 other quarterbacks of their NFC South rivals – the Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints. Brady has 710 career touchdown passes in 365 games, while the other 14 other quarterbacks in his division have combined for only 646 touchdown passes in 519 games.

Aside from Brady, the Buccaneers have backup Blaine Gabbert and reserves Ryan Griffin and Kyle Trask on their quarterback roster while the Falcons have Marcus Mariota as starter, Desmond Ridder and Feleipe Franks. The Panthers have Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold and Matt Corral while the Saints have Jameis Winston as starter and Ian Book, Andy Dalton, and Taysom Hill as reserves. The gap is expected to widen if Brady continues his outstanding play from last season where he led the NFL in passing yards, passing touchdowns and completions and was a finalist for the Most Valuable Player award.

Last season, Brady led the Buccaneers to the postseason in his second year as their quarterback, but they failed to defend the Lombardi Trophy after losing to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Divisional Round. Days following the loss, Brady announced his retirement, but decided to come back 41 days later, citing “unfinished business.”

Gronkowski won’t return even if asked by Brady

Just recently, tight end Rob Gronkowski announced his retirement from the NFL, leaving the Buccaneers with a huge void to fill at the position.

Many were saying that Gronkowski would return if asked by Brady to come back during the season. The tight end came out of his first retirement and joined the Buccaneers two seasons ago when Brady signed a two-year deal worth $50 million. In their first year in Tampa, Gronkowski and Brady led the Buccaneers to their first Super Bowl win since 2002 after crushing the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV.

Gronkowski’s agent Drew Rosenhaus also predicted that the tight end might return if Brady calls him during the season and asks him to help the team’s playoff push. But Gronkowski put all those beliefs to rest during an interview with Mike Reiss of ESPN. “I wouldn’t go back to football, no,” he said, adding that this is the right time to walk away from the sport for good. “I’m done with football. I love the game, love the game, and definitely blessed with all the opportunities that the game of football has given me,” Gronkowski said, but he insisted that he’s “done with football.” Brady and Gronkowski are considered the best quarterback-tight end duo in the NFL. Overall, Gronkowski recorded 621 catches for 9,286 yards and 92 touchdowns in 143 games.
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