What sold Tom Brady on the Buccaneers?

Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson and Terez Paylor discuss what sold Tom Brady on the Buccaneers. Subscribe to the Yahoo Sports NFL Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Video Transcript

CHARLES ROBINSON: What sold the Buccaneers though-- and I'm going to tell you flat out. It's two things. Number one, I think it is the quality of the roster. There's a lot to work with there. It's a roster that can get better and will get better in the coming weeks.

But beyond the quality of the roster, I think Bruce Arians, he is a guy who-- I'm not saying guys don't want to play for Bill Belichick. They do. But they want to play for Bruce Arians, and I think the reasons are a little bit different. You know, Bruce Arians, a little bit more loose. The way he carries them, the way talks to guys, the way he communicates-- you talk about the fun factor. Is football fun under Bruce Arians? I think it is. I think most guys believe Bruce Arians is a lot of fun to play for.

So I think Bruce Arians being that guy and Tampa Bay being on board with going after Tom Brady, from ownership to the janitor-- top to bottom, being in on Tom Brady made a difference.

TEREZ PAYLOR: There's no doubt that another one of the things that attracted Brady to the Bucs was just the skilled talent around him. You know we're looking at Chris Godwin, Mike Evans. There's two good tight ends on the roster. A young offensive line that's solid in pass blocking-- they've got a little better against-- you know, in run blocking, but I think Ronald Jones made some strides this year too.

There's some real talent around Brady this year, and I think that really matters, and that's not something he's had for a while, like young, game-breaking guys that can make stuff happen and make his job easier. Watching the Patriots last year, it was very clear that outside of James White and Julian Edelman, he didn't trust anybody.

That won't be the case in Tampa. Chris Godwin is a great receiver, and so is Mike Evans.

One thing I will say about this is that I think the vertical passing game is going to be interesting to watch because you and I both know, Charles, Bruce Arians believes in throwing the football down the field.

CHARLES ROBINSON: Yes.

TEREZ PAYLOR: Jameis Winston's deep-ball percentage, just attempts last year, was fourth in the league. Tom Brady's, by comparison, was 27th. So it's going to be really interesting to see who rubs off on who more here.

And one thing I will say to that is it seems like Evans and Godwin do a lot of their best work short to intermediate, which could really play into Brady's strengths. Most of the deep ball-- like, a lot of the deep balls attempts went to a Scotty Miller, Breshad Perriman, guys you're not going to be feeding the ball to.

So I think one thing to watch as this thing goes forward is how they custom fit that offense to Brady but whether he gets more aggressive because of who he has on the field with him.