Even At His Worst, Tom Brady Had A GOAT-Worthy Finale
He leaves the game after a far better swan-song season than his peers.
As of today, it looks like Tom Brady is really, truly, yes-he-means-it-this-time retiring from the game of football. And if the 2022 season was the last we saw of Brady, it makes sense that he’s finally walking away. This was not only Brady’s sole losing season as an NFL starter, but relative to the league it was his worst season by yards per attempt, adjusted YPA and touchdown rate. He went out with a whimper, posting a 72.2 passer rating in a 31-14 wild card drubbing at the hands of the Cowboys — a loss that was even more lopsided than the final score would suggest.
But even at the nadir of his career, Brady’s final season proved he was on a different planet than his Hall of Fame peers at quarterback.
His swan song was far from terrible by HOFer standards
Like most great QBs in twilight, Brady saved his worst for last. In addition to the stats I listed above, Brady’s 10 Approximate Value (AV) points in 2022 were the fewest he’d ever had in a full season of work. Teams who get 10 AV out of a starting QB (especially one who threw 733 passes!) are not really going anywhere, historically speaking. And yet, compared with other HOF passers of the modern NFL (since 1955), Brady’s 10 AV was one of the best send-off seasons we’ve seen.
Also note Brady’s age compared with the other great QBs on this list. Of the 21 other names listed, only John Elway, Roger Staubach, Fran Tarkenton and Kurt Warner were better than Brady in their swan songs — and that quartet was an average of 7.25 (!) years younger in their last seasons than Brady was in his.
Excluding Brady, the average Hall of Fame QB's last season saw him get 5 AV at the age of 38. Brady doubled that in his final year, and did it at age 45! While the eventual HOF inclusions of Drew Brees (10 AV at age 41), Ben Roethlisberger (9 at 39) and Philip Rivers (13 at 39) — plus whatever Aaron Rodgers ends up doing down the line — will skew both comparison points slightly upward, it’s still remarkable that Brady was remotely functional in his last season. Most HOF passers are just… not.
And finally, for one additional perspective on Brady’s greatness, we can turn this analysis around and look at things a slightly different way. After the age at which the typical Hall of Fame QB is washed up and retires (again, their age-38 season), Brady still had three Super Bowl wins left in his tank.
Truly, Brady’s was a remarkable career that we may never see the likes of ever again. That was apparent during his prime, and down the back stretch of his playing days. But even in his final season, with Brady at his very worst, he showed glimpses of why he was the best.
Filed under: NFL