On a recent episode of PFF’s Ari Meirov NFL Show, ESPN’s Adam Schefter discussed Tom Brady, un-retirement and rumored tension between Brady and head coach Bruce Arians. Basically since Brady retired, rumors have swirled that he could return this summer. Schefter made it clear that you can’t rule anything out, but Brady un-retiring is unlikely.

“I would say the chances on February 22nd are very, very low that he comes back,” Schefter said. “But I don’t know what Tom Brady is going to feel on July 22nd. Or August 22nd…You know this league well enough to know, anything is always possible. Anything is. Do I think he’s going to play again? Probably not. No, I don’t. But do I rule it out? No, I don’t rule it out either.”

A Brady retirement was never going to come without rumors and speculation galore. That part was predictable, as Brady has been the face of the NFL for years. What has been somewhat of a surprise is rumors of an eroding relationship between Brady and Arians.

Schefter On Brady & Arians

Recently, radio host and former teammate of Brady’s Rich Ohrnberger tweeted out a pair of threads accusing Arians of undermining Brady and offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich. Arians fired back, calling the rumors, “bulls**t”. Ohrnberger’s credibility has come under considerable fire in recent days as well.

When asked by Meirov about the speculation, Schefter downplayed the gossip.

“I don’t know if it’s tension,” Schefter said. “I don’t know what you want to call it. And I think there are issues with every quarterback and every coach. But it’s Tom Brady, so it gets a lot of attention. Do I think it was completely smooth sailing? Probably not. Do I think that drove him from the game? No, I don’t. But, yeah, every quarterback has issues with certain guys at some point in time. That’s not unusual.”

“Tom had it with Josh McDaniels on the sideline,” Meirov said. “We’ve seen it many times. It happens.”

“And Tom and Josh are very close,” Schefter said. “Tom had fights with Bill O’Brien on the sideline. And everything was fine with them too.”

Schefter isn’t necessarily the most connected person to this storyline. But it’s worth mentioning he broke the Tom Brady retirement news, along with Jeff Darlington. He’s obviously pretty dialed into the Brady camp these days. So his comments here are worth noting.

Like I’ve said all along, it would be naive to assume that Brady and Arians always saw eye-to-eye. In fact, it’s naive to assume that any quarterback and coach are always “smooth-sailing”. But the speculation of a massive rift between the two that drove Brady from Tampa Bay or the game of football was always far-fetched. Those rumors will likely continue due to the nature of the offseason. But until actual evidence is produced, it’s hard to take them seriously.

You can listen to the entire show here.