While the curious departure of Antonio Brown from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers raises some questions off the field, it also means Tom Brady’s team loses a reliable pass receiver. The options Tampa Bay still has at wide receiver are becoming more manageable.

Munich/Tampa Bay – The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have lost wide receiver Antonio Brown. While the 33-year-old has not been officially released, Head Coach Bruce Arians announced that he is “no longer a Buccaneer”.

After Brown’s more than curious and questionable departure during the game at the New York Jets (28:24), parting ways with Brown is the only right course of action. From a sporting point of view, however, the departure of the receiver hurts the reigning champion.

First Godwin, now Brown: Who’s left?

“AB” isn’t the first receiver quarterback Tom Brady has lost as a kickoff receiver this season. In the loss to the New Orleans Saints, Chris Godwin tore his ACL and will also be out for at least the rest of the season. He was Tampa Bay’s best receiver with over 1,100 receiving yards.

That leaves only Mike Evans out of the once dangerous trio of receivers. And the veteran is also banged up, in Week 16 against the Panthers he had to sit out with a knee injury, in Week 17 he caught four balls again for 47 yards and a touchdown.

Who is left to fill in the gaps that have been created? In the comeback win against the Jets, it was Cyril Grayson, a receiver who caught only five balls earlier in his career, who was the match-winner with six catches for 85 yards and the game-winning touchdown.

In addition, Tyler Johnson (four catches for 50 yards) and Breshad Perriman (two for 41) caught passes from Brady as wide receivers. A journeyman who couldn’t secure a regular spot anywhere and a still inexperienced pass receiver who has 43 catches in his career. To that end, it remains to be seen whether Scotty Miller, who made some whiff marks in 2020, will make a sustained recovery from his injuries this season.

“Whoever our number three is, he’s got to do better,” Bruce Arians said in a presser. Grayson is the first young receiver to put an exclamation point on the Jets.

“Safety net” Gronk, Fournette back in January

But it’s not just wide receivers who get to catch passes, so Brady’s best pass receiver against the Jets was tight end Rob Gronkowski. “Gronk”, with whom TB12 has formed an almost unstoppable tandem since 2009, caught seven balls for 115 yards. Even though he’s not the same bull he was a few years ago, he’s still dangerous when defensive coverages don’t respect him enough.

As in his time with the New England Patriots, the Buccaneers’ big number 87 is still Brady’s favourite option. There is probably no active player “TB12” trusts as much as him. In the US media, he is therefore often referred to as Brady’s “Security Blanket”, loosely translated as the 44-year-old’s safety net.

In addition, Leonard Fournette will most likely return in the playoffs. The running back, who was the unofficial co-MVP in last year’s Super Bowl with two touchdowns, has become even more of a factor in the Buccaneers offence this season, situationally invigorating his team’s rather tired running game.

Brady, who has been known throughout his career for liking to throw short passes to his running backs, consistently tied the only 26-year-old into the passing game, bringing him to a very good 454 receiving yards in 14 games.

It’s all about Tom Brady

For the Buccaneers, it’s like it is most of the time in the NFL. It’s the quarterback that matters, in this case Tom Brady. Logically, most franchises would love to have as their playmaker a seven-time Super Bowl champion who nothing can shock.

“TB12” came to the Buccaneers to throw to top-notch receivers and have an “easy” quarterback life. Now, however, the 44-year-old must once again put his trust in young and unknown pass receivers.

He has already shown that he can do that with the Patriots. But whether it will be enough for the Super Bowl again is no longer a guarantee at his advanced age, if it ever was.

In the playoffs, everything is possible again for the Buccaneers – in one direction as well as the other.