McCourty: 'I'll go back to New England too if Tom Brady goes' originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Former New England Patriots teammates Devin McCourty and Tom Brady will spend time this offseason pondering their NFL futures. While they're scheduled to become free agents, there's a chance one or both of them will call it a career.
Even if McCourty is leaning toward retirement, there's one way he could be persuaded to return to the Patriots for at least one more season: A Tom Brady reunion in Foxboro.
Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Boston’s newsletters.
Curran: Patriots OC search shows Belichick's comfort trumps all
"What I want him to do, go back to New England. I'll go back too if he goes," McCourty said Saturday on NFL GameDay.
Maybe that was said in jest, but there's a good chance McCourty wasn't kidding. The longtime Patriots defensive back has three Super Bowl rings from his time with Brady as his quarterback. As much as may respect Mac Jones, it makes sense that he'd want the greatest QB of all time back under center.
Local
In-depth news coverage of the Greater Boston Area.
As fun as it is to dream about, McCourty knows Brady returning to New England is unlikely. So what does he envision Brady doing next season?
"He's going to keep playing. I think a team like the Titans," McCourty said. "He has (Mike) Vrabel down there, a guy he played with. Not too far from his family being around the East Coast. Different than going all the way out to 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."
The expectation is if Brady plays next season, it won't be with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. NFL Media's Ian Rapoport recently mentioned the Titans, Raiders, and San Francisco 49ers as the most likely landing spots for the 45-year-old.
While a Patriots reunion is improbable, never say never. Brady has been full of surprises over the last few years and New England has missed the playoffs in two of the last three seasons. After the poor offensive season they just had, perhaps the Patriots would consider bringing Brady back for a storybook ending to his career. Don't count on it though.
Brady and the Bucs made the 2023 NFL playoffs despite a losing record -- the first of the seven-time Super Bowl champion's 23 years in the league. They were ousted in the Wild Card round by the Dallas Cowboys.
