Bucs quarterback Tom Brady wasn’t retired for long before the rumors started about a potential return. Was Brady’s retirement truly legitimate? Would he reach the summer months and long to be back on the gridiron? According to NFL Network’s Mike Giardi, several people close to Brady in Foxboro doubt the star quarterback is truly finished.

“I’ve talked to a couple people who were with Brady in Foxboro, who know him very well,” Giardi said. “And they said, ‘I don’t believe for a second that he’s done’. I think the way things got handled a couple Saturdays ago, with the retirement. That sort of leaked out early. He shamed the media, then the next day he retires. And it was very clunky. A lot of people feel like he was almost forced in that direction, but he doesn’t want to go in that direction just yet.”

Unpacking Giardi’s comments is interesting. It’s illogical to conclude Brady was “forced” in any direction by media reports. If anything, the quarterback would have had more onus to announce a return after Adam Schefter and Jeff Darlington reported on his pending retirement. There is no correlation between their reports and the decisions of his personal life. Brady made the decision to retire with his family, regardless of what the media was saying.

However, I do believe Giardi’s report that people close to Brady doubt the legitimacy of his retirement. It’s important to note that this speculation was always going to happen when Brady retired. Especially when he was playing like the NFL’s MVP. But there has been no indication from Brady that he plans to return.

Sure, the quarterback left the door open for his mind to change. But he’s also reiterated several different times that he’s “happy” with his decision. That doesn’t mean he’ll feel the same way in June or July, however. Until then, we will keep monitoring the GOAT’s absence from the game.