Matt Cassel explains why he thinks Tom Brady will play until he’s 45 years old. The former Patriots QB and Brady teammate also breaks down how Brady will handle this offseason if he does decide to return.
The NFL's longest-tenured starting quarterback not named Tom Brady is retiring, and Tom Brady has a few thoughts.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger announced his retirement Thursday afternoon after 18 seasons. The Steelers didn't have a single losing season during Roethlisberger's tenure from 2004 to 2021, winning two Super Bowls and eight AFC North titles.
That's an impressive combination of longevity and success -- something Brady knows a thing or two about. Here's how the former New England Patriots quarterback "congratulated" Roethlisberger via Twitter on Wednesday:
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"Ben defied the TB12 Method in favor of the 'Throw Some Ice On It' method his whole career, and ended up an all-time-great with 6 Pro-Bowls and 2 Super Bowls," Brady wrote. "There’s more than one way to bake a cake!"
Roethlisberger was no model of peak physical fitness, but the 39-year-old QB made at least 12 starts in all but one season despite battling a steady stream of injuries. Prior to his retirement, Roethlisberger, Brady (drafted in 2000) and Aaron Rodgers (drafted in 2005) were the league's longest-tenured starting QBs by three full seasons.
What does Brady's lengthy IG message tell us about QB's future?
New England Patriots
Brady is in a class by himself, of course: He won a seventh Super Bowl title at age 43 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and just finished one of his best statistical seasons ever at age 44.
There's a slight possibility Brady follows Roethlisberger into retirement this offseason, but he has to take pride in outlasting even his most durable contemporaries.
