Welcome to the Monday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!I don't think Tom Brady has his own national holiday, but we might as well just say it's today because Tom Brady is all we're going to talk about. What I think I'm trying to say here is that if you don't like reading about Tom Brady, then it might be best if you just skip today's newsletter. I won't be offended.If you stick around, you'll find out where Tom Brady went during his 11-day hiatus, plus you'll learn just
Ramon Urias Jersey how close Brady came to signing with the Raiders in 2020. We'll also maybe talk about non-Brady things like .Alright, that's enough of that, let's get to the rundown.As always, here's your weekly reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. All you have to do is . 1. Tom Brady returns but he might not recognize any of his offensive linemenAfter an 11-day absence, Tom Brady , but let's be honest, after he takes one look at the current state of the Buccaneers offensive line, he might decide to go on another hiatus. Let's check in on how things are going in Tampa Bay.Tom Brady is officially back. By the time you read this, Brady will likely have already taken the field for a practice in Tampa Bay. The 45-year-old was at the Bucs' facility on Monday morning getting ready for the team's 12:45 p.m. ET practice. Brady originally left the team on Aug. 11, and although it's odd that he took 11 days off during the middle of training camp, I'm gue sing no one will care or remember this happened if the Buccaneers are good this year. On the other hand, if the Bucs struggle, a lot of people will likely be pointing to this absence as the reason why.Where was Brady? One thing I can almost certainly tell you is that he was not filming an episode of "The Masked Singer," which was about this entire situation. According , Brady was actually in the Bahamas at an exclusive resort with his wife, Gisele. The trip was apparently a last chance for Brady to get in some family time before starting the season.Brady is walking into an ugly situation. The Buccaneers were hit with a devastating injury over the weekend with Aaron Stinnie tearing both his ACL and MCL. Stinnie was competing for the starting spot at left guard, and with him now out, that means the job will likely go to Luke Goedeke and Nick Leverett.Huge hit for a Buccaneers offensive line that's already taken a bunch of huge hits. The offensive line situation is getting dire for the Buccaneers. Over the past six months, their starting five has been decimated. Left guard Ali Marpet retired, right
Bob Gibson Jersey guard Alex Cappa signed with the Bengals, center Ryan Jensen will mi s a big chunk of the season with a knee injury and Tristan Wirfs could mi s some time after injuring his oblique. That's four of five starters from last year that Brady likely won't have in front of him come Week 1. Considering that Brady is a 45-year-old player with almost zero mobility, this definitely isn't an ideal situation for Tampa Bay.The Buccaneers did trade for right guard Shaq Mason in March, but that might not be enough to keep Brady standing upright. 2. Tom Brady apparently almost played for the RaidersI thought for sure that Tom Brady taking 11 days off during the middle of training camp would be the craziest thing we heard about Tom Brady this month, but it turns out I was wrong. Apparently, Brady almost signed with the Raiders back in 2020, at least according to Dana White.The UFC president joined Rob Gronkowski for an interview during the first ever GronkCast on Saturday and White had a wild story about Brady's free agency. (By the way, Gronk and his family during certain UFC fights, so be on the look out for that). Here's :White said he helped broker a deal to get Brady (and Gronk) to the Raiders."I worked to put that deal together for Brady and Gronk to come to the Raiders," White said. "
Genesis Cabrera Jersey It was almost a done deal. ... And Brady was already looking at houses. It wasn't said yet that Gronk was going to be coming. So Las Vegas would have had Brady and Gronk the year that the Bucs won the ."Why the deal didn't go down. According to White, the deal was all but done, but then Jon Gruden had second thoughts about adding a 43-year-old quarterback. "It was almost a done deal, and at the last
John Brebbia Jersey minute, Gruden blew the deal up and said that he didn't want Brady , and all hell broke loose."Gronk confirms the story. If Dana White was the only source for this crazy story, most people would probably have a tough time believing it, but Gronk actually confirmed the details. "That is exactly what happened," Gronk said after White finished telling the story.Mark Davis doesn't deny the story. The Raiders owner was asked about White's claims over the weekend and he didn't exactly deny anything. "I heard about White's Brady story ," Davis said, . "That was what -- two to three years ago or something? I don't know, man. Talk to Dana. I remember that Tom Brady went to Tampa Bay. That's basically what I remember. I have no idea." If the Raiders didn't go after Brady, you'd think Davis would simply say it didn't happen, but since he didn't say that, it feels like White's story almost certainly has some truth to it.The craziest part of all this is that it now seems like the Buccaneers were Brady's FOURTH OPTION during his free agency tour in 2020. Based reporting over the past two years, it now seems that Brady was eyeing the Dolphins, Raiders and 49ers eventually signed with Tampa Bay. 3. NFL preseason Week 2: Ranking the top performances by rookie quarterbacksFor the second straight week, we're ranking how rookie quarterbacks played in the preseason and for the second straight week, Kenny Pickett is at the top of our rankings.Once again, Pickett was brilliant and the crazy thing about his performances over the past two weeks is that he's looked like the best QB on the Steelers' roster. That doesn't nece sarily mean he'll overtake Mitchell Trubisky to win the starting job, but it does mean that Mike Tomlin is going
Randy Arozarena Jersey to have a lot to think about over the next three weeks. During Pittsburgh's 16-15 win over Jacksonville, Pickett finished 6 of 7 for 76 yards and a TD on two po se sions. Pickett also had a 19-yard completion to George Pickens called back after the Steelers were called for holding. The big difference between last week and this week is that Pickett's performance came against legit players. In Week 1, Pickett played the fourth quarter and was mostly going up against the bottom of the Seahawks' defensive roster. This week, Pickett was going up against a Jaguars defense that featured mostly first- and second-stringers.If Tomlin wants to give Pickett a chance to win the job, he could start him next week against the Lions to see what he can do.Anyway, here is a look at this week's ranking of each rookie quarterbac
The Wall