Tom Brady Signs with Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The six-time Super Bowl champ left the Patriots earlier this week and officially signed on as a Buccaneer Friday.

Getty Images
Getty Images

Six-time Super Bowl champion and quarterback Tom Brady has officially signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The former New England Patriot announced his new career journey with the Bucs on Friday morning in an Instagram post.

"I’m starting a new football journey and thankful for the @buccaneers for giving me an opportunity to do what I love to do," Brady wrote in the caption. "I look forward to meeting all my new teammates and coaches and proving to them that they can believe and trust in me...I have always believed that well done is better than well said, so I’m not gonna say much more - I’m just gonna get to work!"

The 42-year-old shared the news of his departure from New England on Tuesday morning in a statement thanking his fans and Patriots staff. Brady played for the Patriots for 20 years, joining the team in 2000 when he was selected as the 199th overall in the sixth round of the NFL draft. Since then, the team has dominated professional football. 

“MA has been my home for twenty years,” Brady wrote. “It has truly been the happiest two decades I could have envisioned in my life and I have nothing but love and gratitude for my time in New England.”
 

As of Wednesday, Brady was a free agent, with many speculating that he would join the Buccaneers.

“I can’t thank you enough for the support of our team,” he continued. “The packed training camps and sold out stadiums and mostly the victory parades. I have been so blessed to share them with you all.”

Since taking over for an injured Drew Bledsoe in 2001, Brady has led the Patriots to six Super Bowl wins and 41 playoff games. He was awarded Super Bowl MVP four times, and has helped the Patriots break multiple league records — including most conference championships and division championships by any team. Brady played under Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick for all 20 seasons — making the pair the longest-running quarterback/ coach combination ever.

In 2015, Brady became the subject of a dramatic sports investigation dubbed "Deflategate," where he was accused of ordering footballs to be deflated ahead of the 2014 AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts. After a series of appeals, Brady was eventually suspended for four games, and the Patriots were fined $1 million. Brady maintained that he did nothing wrong, and said he did not do "anything of which we have been accused."