Wednesday Cheese Curds: Tom Brady retires (for now), Broncos & Texans find their coaches

Feb 1, 2023 - 3:00 PM

If this really is the end for Tom Brady, it will be a rather inglorious one.

On Wednesday morning, Brady announced that he is retiring and that this time it’s “for good.” The announcement comes on the heels of his least successful season from a team perspective, as 2022 was the first time that he has ever led a team that finished below .500. Of course, the Buccaneers still made the playoffs, thanks to a dismal NFC South division, but were bounced easily in the Wild Card playoffs by the Dallas Cowboys.

Of course, Brady retired briefly last season, only to decide to return to football a few short weeks later. Perhaps there is something about quarterbacks that leads them to go back on those decisions; after all, Green Bay Packers fans know all too well what can happen when a signal-caller ends up deciding to come back and try to play after seemingly calling it quits.

With Brady’s decision made (at least for the time being), the football world will fully shift its attention to Aaron Rodgers once the Super Bowl wraps up a week from Sunday. Speculation is already starting, however, about him likely planning to return to football, whether in a Packers uniform or in different colors.

The day before Brady’s announcement came, however, the league’s news cycle was dominated by news of a pair of head coaching hires, one that comes with substantial draft compensation. Sean Payton, who retired after the 2021 season and spent a year in TV, is back, as the Denver Broncos are bringing him aboard after agreeing to send some picks to the New Orleans Saints. Payton was still under contract with New Orleans, which necessitated the swap — one that appears to be awfully pricey for the Broncos, a team that unloaded a ton of draft capital for Russell Wilson a year ago. That news came just on the heels of the Houston Texans locking in DeMeco Ryans as their head coach.

Don’t ever say that the Pro Bowl is a boring week. It just hasn’t ever had good football. Then again, maybe a flag football game will be just what this event needs. Maybe? Probably not.

Tom Brady says he is retiring from football 'for good' | ESPN
Brady made the announcement on social media, saying he really means it this time. We'll see if that's the case, but the speculation about how this will affect Aaron Rodgers' decision immediately followed Brady's reveal.

Aaron Rodgers endorses Rich Bisaccia as head coaching candidate | Packers Wire
It would be nice if Bisaccia comes back to Green Bay, though he's been through multiple interviews with the Indianapolis Colts in their head coaching search. The Packers' special teams were hardly elite (except for one unit in the second half of the year) and there were a few mistakes here and there, but they looked markedly improved from the previous few years.

Broncos agree to deal with Saints to hire Sean Payton as head coach | NFL.com
While Bisaccia is still in the running with the Colts, the Broncos have landed Payton to coach next season, trading at least a first-round pick (one they acquired from the Dolphins for Bradley Chubb). In addition, the Texans are hiring DeMeco Ryans to be their head coach, nabbing the former 49ers defensive coordinator to leave just two jobs open: Indy and Arizona.

Rodgers continues to contemplate if football 'fits' into his life ahead of Pebble Beach Pro-Am | JSOnline.com
Rodgers says his decision is "not on my mind that much at all" right now, as he's taking time off to let himself unwind. That time off will include an appearance at one of the bigger Pro-Am golf tournaments in the country this weekend.

2023 NFL free agency: Biggest re-signing decisions for all 32 teams | ESPN
Not surprisingly, Allen Lazard is the pick for the Packers, but APC isn't counting on a return for the physical receiver.

Former school official accused of embezzling $1.5 million worth of chicken wings - CBS News
Do you know how many wings you can get for $1.5 million? That's apparently 11,000 cases, and each case probably has a few thousand.