Bucs HC Bruce Arians Thought Tom Brady Would Never Leave Patriots

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians admitted Tuesday that he thought Tom Brady would never leave the New England Patriots.

Appearing on The Rich Eisen Show (h/t NFL.com's Kevin Patra) on Tuesday, Arians suggested that Brady leaving the Pats to sign with the Bucs was akin to a dream scenario:

"When did I die, and how did I get back? No way. Never did I think that he'd ever leave New England. This year, you kinda got a feeling, maybe. So you do your due diligence as an organization and you rank all the quarterbacks that might become available. We had him ranked No. 1. If it happened, we would make a concerted effort and we did."

After spending the first 20 years of his professional career with the Patriots, Brady officially joined the Buccaneers last week.

During his time in New England, Brady won six Super Bowls, four Super Bowl MVP awards and three NFL MVP awards. Given all he has accomplished, Arians is excited for what Brady will bring to the table in 2020: "What he brings to us more than anything is a proven leader. A leader of men that knows how to win championships. We've got a really good young football team that needs a leader like that."

The 42-year-old Brady had a down year in 2019 by his standards, as he completed 60.8 percent of his passes for 4,057 yards, 24 touchdowns and eight interceptions. The Pats went 11-5 and won the AFC East for the 11th consecutive season, but they were bounced in the AFC Divisional Round of the playoffs by the Tennessee Titans.

New England's offensive struggles had plenty to do with a lack of weapons around Brady. The Patriots didn't do enough to replace tight end Rob Gronkowski after he retired, and Brady was essentially left with slot receiver Julian Edelman and running back James White as the only skill-position players he could trust.

That likely won't be an issue in Tampa Bay. By joining the Bucs, Brady ensured that he will be throwing to two Pro Bowl wide receivers in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, plus a promising young tight end in O.J. Howard, who Brady could help take to the next level.

Aside from his leadership and remarkable resume, the biggest upgrade Brady provides over Jameis Winston is ball security. Winston threw an NFL-worst 30 interceptions last season, while Brady has thrown 29 interceptions over the past four seasons combined.

Arians admitted that Winston's turnovers played a major role in the decision to explore other options at quarterback with Brady being the No. 1 choice on his list.

It is still somewhat surreal to think that Brady will put on a different uniform in 2020, but legendary quarterbacks such as Peyton Manning and Joe Montana joined new teams after long careers with one franchise and had success, so it isn't unprecedented.

Brady is taking over a Bucs team that went 7-9 last season and hasn't made the playoffs since 2007, but if he can cut down significantly on the turnovers and be the leader that the Buccaneers need, 7-9 could turn into 10-6 or better and a playoff berth.