Tom Brady has kept the New England Patriots as Super Bowl contenders for the 20 years he spent with the team.
He’s now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — a team that hasn’t been to the Super Bowl since 2003. Regardless of their struggles in recent history, Buccaneers linebacker Shaq Barrett believes Brady automatically turns them into a contender. He joined ESPN’s “Get Up” and explained how Brady will put them in position.
“I think Jameis (Winston) would have made a big jump, but I think with Brady, it just makes us an automatic contender for a Super Bowl,” Barrett said. “With Jameis, I think we would have been a playoff contender. It would have been still a battle, for sure, and it’s still going to be a battle now, but having Tom, I think we’re going to be over the edge, and everything on paper looks perfect. We’ve just got to put the work in.”
"I think with Brady it just makes us an automatic contender for the Super Bowl. With Jameis I think we would have been a playoff contender."
—Tampa Bay OLB Shaq Barrett pic.twitter.com/vblzUhrdms
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) May 26, 2020
The Buccaneers finished 2019 with a 7-9 record and Winston threw a career-high 30 interceptions. The team had two receivers with more than 1,000 receiving yards in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin — with Cameron Brate and O.J Howard at tight end. They’ve added Rob Gronkowski to that group, along with Brady.
Tampa Bay has a prolific offensive unit on paper and has the potential to compete for a Super Bowl — but, it’ll take extensive work for a 43-year-old quarterback to enter a new system and play at a championship level.
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