Jason Licht tries to ignore “chatter” linking Tom…

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Tom Brady wasn’t asked about it during his EXCLUSIVE! interview with ESPN.com. Buccaneers G.M. Jason Licht was asked about it by reporters during a pre-draft press conference.

Specifically, Licht got a question about “chatter” linking Brady to the Dolphins for 2023.

“I make of it as chatter, just like you said,” Licht said. “We’re focused on putting our team together here with the draft and we’re all excited. We’re all in lockstep here — Tom, Todd [Bowles], myself, Byron [Leftwich], the entire coaching staff on this season.”

That’s the smartest approach for Licht to take. Focus on this year. For 2023, Brady can do wherever he wants, unless the Bucs sign him to an extension.

Also, the “chatter” was much more than that. PFT reported on February 28 that the Dolphins had planned to make a play for Brady and Saints coach Sean Payton, but that the Brian Flores class-action lawsuit pulled the plug on that possibility. As PFT also reported, Brady would have been introduced as a minority owner of the Dolphins, as soon as Super Bowl week. Ben Volin of the Boston Globe has reported that Brady all would have joined the Miami front office as a high-level executive. Eventually, the move would have been made to get Brady on the field.

Licht also was asked whether Brady has been offered an ownership stake in the Bucs, presumably because the Dolphins were planning to sell him one.

“No, we haven’t had those discussions,” Licht said. “The only discussions we’ve had with Tom is when he came back. We’re excited about this year and excited to get going.”

It’s still fair to wonder whether Brady will get going to another city in Florida after the 2022 season. But for the Flores lawsuit, it was on track to happen this year.