Devin McCourty hasn’t decided if he wants to retire or continue playing football, but there’s one thing he knows for sure would get him back on the field in 2023: That’s Tom Brady returning to Foxborough and finishing his career with the New England Patriots.
The legendary quarterback has a big decision to make in the offseason. He could ride off into the sunset and call it a career, rejoin the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for another run or pick another team to play for next season.
Could that team be the Patriots?
McCourty, Brady’s former longtime teammate, certainly hopes so. If Brady returned to football, the three-time All-Pro defensive back claimed he would return for another season as well.
“What I want [Brady] to do is go back to New England. I’ll go back, too, if he goes. But what I think he’s going to do, he’s going to keep playing,” McCourty said on NFL GameDay. “I think a team like the [Tennessee] Titans. He has [Mike] Vrabel down there, a guy he played with. Not to far from his family, being on the east coast.
“It’s different than going all the way out to [Las] Vegas. I know Josh McDaniels is there, but you go to Tennessee—great running back, good defense, they’ll get some more weapons in there to throw the ball to. I could see Tom right there continuing his great career.”
.@devinmccourty is ready to strap it up again if @TomBrady will join him back in New England đź‘€ pic.twitter.com/NQdqpo8Dbc
— NFL GameDay (@NFLGameDay) January 21, 2023
McCourty’s hope of seeing Brady in New England was in no way a shot at Patriots quarterback Mac Jones, who struggled this season with all of the offensive play-calling issues.
Quite the contrary, it was just a veteran player hoping for one last opportunity to play side-by-side with the quarterback he spent the majority of his career calling his teammate.
Or perhaps it runs even deeper than that. Maybe McCourty really is retiring from football, and it would take a seismic move such as Brady returning to bring him back.
[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqby79hc76t2s390 player_id=01eqbvhghtkmz2182d image=]
[listicle id=134655]