What is a one day contract?
On Tuesday morning Tom Brady announced he is retiring from the NFL after 22 seasons, but he still has a chance to sign a one day contract with the Patriots.
Ever since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were eliminated by the Los Angeles Rams Tom Brady has been in the national spotlight. Will he retire? Will he continue playing? Will he sign a one day contract with the New England Patriots and then retire?
Brady calls it quits after more than two decades on top
He has shared the spotlight with the Conference Championships and Super Bowl over the last week and a half as news outlets tried to guess the GOAT’s next move.
On Tuesday morning the seven time Super Bowl champion made it official amid much speculation, and preemptive news reports of his retirement. Brady took to Instagram stating "I have loved my NFL career, and now it is time to focus my time and energy on other things that require my attention."
While he will be retiring, it remains to be seen whether he will sign a one-day contract with the New England Patriots
What is a one day contract?
One-day contracts are usually signed at the twilight of an athlete’s career. It’s not exclusive to the NFL, but you do see a good number of football players sign them.
These contract are more ceremonial than anything else. If a player spent the majority of his career with one team, and then ships off to another franchise as his career is dwindling down , their former teams will almost always offer them a chance to sign a brief contract so they can retire in the colors that made them who they are.
There were plenty wondering, especially in the New England area, if Tom Terrific would in fact sign a one-day contract with the Pats before bidding the NFL adieu. On Tuesday morning Brady answered questions about if he will retire, but he did not comment on whether he would be retiring as a New England Patriot.
Charles Simmons of the Boston Globe tweeted that Brady is expected to fly to Foxborough tomorrow to sign a contract with the Pats before he says good bye.
Hall of Famers who retired with “their team”
Plenty of NFL legends have ended their career with their former teams. Jerry Rice would probably be the most memorable. Rice won three Super Bowls and two Offensive Player of the Year awards with the San Francisco 49ers from 1985-2000. Rice spent the next three seasons with the Oakland Raiders and was briefly signed by the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos before retiring as a Niner.
Emmit Smith did the same after winning three Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys in the 90’s. The NFL’s all-time leading rusher would go to Arizona for two season before returning Dallas and retiring as a Cowboy.